Significant increases in assaults and damages

GARDAI are trying to put strategies in place to tackle the increase in assaults, criminal damage and public order offences in Drogheda.

Supt Andrew Watters revealed figures that saw assaults up by 19% for the first six months of this year compared to 2017.

Criminal damage was also up by 17% while there were 122 public order offences, compared to 100 last year, an increase of 22%.

He said they had gone through the figures and found that the main problem period where most incidents took place was between the hours of midnight and 5am on Saturday/ Sunday.

Cllr Pio Smith, a great advocate of the Purple Flag idea, said the proposal had stalled when it comes to introducing it in Drogheda, but one feature in it is how we manage the economy between 12-5am.

‘Can businesses help to sort this out. What about staggered opening times,’ he suggested.

Supt Watters said the gardai work with the vintners group and while people say the incidents occur because too much drink was served, that is not necessarily the case.

‘People drink at home and then go out and they meet up at flashpoints and certain locations. There are different finishing times for niteclubs.

‘We will have four new gardai in the next few weeks,’ he added.

Overall, he said he would love to get 25 extra gardai to be split across the garda shifts, but every other division was looking for the same thing.

‘ The thing is, we have Dundalk and Drogheda, the two biggest towns in Ireland, in the same and smallest county.’

PEOPLE DRINK AT HOME AND THEN GO OUT AND THEY MEET UP AT FLASHPOINTS AND CERTAIN LOCATIONS. THERE ARE DIFFERENT FINISHING TIMES FOR NITECLUBS