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Fermoy Mayor, Olive Corcoran wants more ‘Feet on the Beat’ to combat crime. Photo: 123RF

Mayor of Fermoy, Olive Corcoran, has this week called in the strongest terms for more gardai on the beat to combat crime locally. "There is no point in saying that the solution is complicated - it is not. We all know the answer, more feet on the beat," she said.

The Mayor said that many problems have emerged from the ashes of the Celtic Tiger, affecting both young and old.

"We hardly bat an eyelid any longer when we read of a murder - it's an everyday occurrence - we've become immune to it, just as we have to the drug problem," she outlined. "Many problems, such as the banking fall out, carry complicated solutions. Others however have solutions which are obvious to every man and woman on the street." she continued.

Cllr Corcoran says she has found, from talking to people on a daily basis around Fermoy, that many, especially the elderly and those with physical disabilities, are terrified in their homes as a result of constant incidences of burglaries. A friend of hers was broken into recently, she explained, the burglar prising open a bedroom door with an iron bar. She was just glad that her friend wasn't home at the time, fearing what would have happened had she been.

"There is hardly a street in this town, or indeed any other, that has not been affected. In fact, the perpetrators have become so brazen, that they returned to some areas on a regular basis," she alleged. "It's time for our citizens to say stop and to demand the protection for which we pay our taxes," she stressed.

While there's been many initiatives such as lectures on how people can protect themselves and while such measures have certain merit, she said "we all know that if a professional burglar wants to gain entry, they will. We need more than this."

"I realise the gardai are busy and that they have varied responsibilities but what is more important than the protection of our citizens? Nothing. There have been many changes and cutbacks in the force's pay, an absence of overtime, extra paperwork and of course our new Policing Boards where we receive, in colourful form, the latest crime statistics. What can politicians do with crime statistics? A total waste of taxpayers money!" she declared.

"I'm not interested in a 'smart' police force, I want a force that protects citizens in their homes. I need to see this force and so do the criminals. We need feet on the beat. We need them in all the estates that have grown up around our towns and we need them before the situation deteriorates further," she added, saying she intends contacting Defence Minister Alan Shatter to press home her point.

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