CORRIDORS OF CRIMINALITY
One small patch of land illustrates the complexity of policing the border, so why have the Garda stations closed in the
IT was the early hours of the morning when a gang rammed a digger into two cash machines in Cootehill, Co. Cavan.
The thieves quickly set off with the machines, heading straight for a stretch of land they knew they would be safe from both An Garda Siochána and the PSNI.
It was here they smashed open the machines which held over €120,000. Some of the money was destroyed by a dye, but the gang successfully made off with the rest. Arrests were later made, but a lack of evidence resulted in nobody being prosecuted.
The stretch of land used by the criminals is called the Drummully Polyp, or locally known as Coleman’s Island. The ‘island’ is in Co. Monaghan, but is only connected to the rest of the Republic by a narrow strip of water on the River Finn. Access is possible only by travelling along the A3 through Co. Fermanagh, effectively rendering it a no man’s land for justice.
‘The gardaí can’t get there,’ a source told the Irish Mail on Sunday this week. ‘Why did
‘It is such a hard area to police’
the boys go there? Because they have the local knowledge. That’s what you’re up against. The gardaí later arrested people for that, but they didn’t admit it and the gardaí didn’t have enough evidence.’
This small patch of land illustrates starkly the complexity of policing along the border. As the MoS drove the along the border from Monaghan into Cavan, we crossed into the north four times. Along the way, in an area that was once heavily policed, we passed Garda stations manned by one garda and other stations that were closed during former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter’s tenure.
The one-man Garda stations remain a comfort to people living in the area and, according to sources, are essential to policing the region. But they are at risk of closing, according to the recent Future of Policing in Ireland report. Worryingly for gardaí and locals in the area, the report suggested it would be ‘efficient and effective’ to close more Garda stations and replace them with mobile units.
With Brexit getting closer every day, Garda James Morrisroe, a Garda Representative Association representative who is based in the Cavan/Monaghan division, told the MoS there is ‘no contingency plan’ in place that he is aware of and said ‘at least 1,000’ additional members would be needed to police the border effectively.
‘I’m coming at it from resources and the health and safety of members: that gardaí won’t be in a car on their own in that big border hinterland with no back-up.
‘You can see the large swathes of rural hinterland that are not covered by any Garda station and they are closing stations with no forethought of the consequences or the effect on the public.
‘One-man patrol cars in the border area is bordering on corporate negligence and a real concern for our members who are put in an impossible vulnerable position due to lack of numbers.’
Sources meanwhile told the MoS that gardaí stationed in the border stations of Emyvale, Scotstown and Clones have ‘great contacts along the border’ but there are not enough of them.
One source said: ‘Sure you have only one person in Emyvale and one in Scotstown and a sergeant and three in Clones. That’s your border, that’s it.’
Another said: ‘Scotsown and Emyvale were two key areas and you’d never have seen gardaí patrolling those areas being pulled into Monaghan, but now they are. ‘There’s now a maximum of three gardaí between the two stations and they’d be regularly brought into Monaghan. The result is that the locals know more than some of the gardaí now... the knowledge is gone.’
Travelling from Clones in Co. Monaghan to Redhills in Co. Cavan you cross the border four times. Policing this stretch, while avoiding crossing into the North, requires detailed knowledge of the geography.
‘Years ago there were over 50 people in Clones garda station, but now