FF justice spokesperson hears Drogheda problems
THERE was a strong turnout for a public meeting on crime in Drogheda organised by Drogheda Fianna Fáil local election candidate Anthony Moore, which was addressed by the FF Justice Spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan TD.
In his speech, O’Callaghan referred to the positive reputation that Drogheda enjoyed nationwide, which was burnished by last year’s Fleadh Cheoil, and condemned how this had been tarnished by the drug-related gangland crime that peaked in the weeks before Christmas.
Expressing concern about the recent redeployment of the additional Gardaí that had arrived in Drogheda to deal with the feud, he warned that unless the government dealt with the drugs problem, there was a risk that Drogheda could go the road of Limerick twenty years ago. He said that Drogheda needed more and better-resourced Gardaí and praised the Gardaí for their recent seizure of almost € 1 million of drugs in Termonfeckin. He also highlighted the need to educate people about the dangers of drugs and to provide more funding for outreach services dealing with addiction problems.
He said that his view was that there was no such thing as an acceptable level of crime and emphasised the need to tackle repeat offenders, criticising the government for its failure to support legislation he had drafted which would prevent repeat serious offenders from getting bail.
He then fielded a large number of questions from the floor on crime-related topics from Drogheda, South Louth and East Meath.
Speaking to the Drogheda Independent, Anthony Moore said “It was really great to have a front-bench politician of Jim O’Callaghan’s calibre and expertise here to listen to the community’s experiences and fears of crime. This has given him a lot of information about what is needed to tackle crime in Drogheda and I look forward to working with him on these issues in the weeks and months ahead so that we can pressurise the government into giving Drogheda the policing it needs”.