Gardaí get to work, but were not ‘snowed under’
AS drifts of snow continued to bury garda vehicles outside on Lymington Road, measures were taken to ensure that a full complement of gardaí were on duty in Enniscorthy Garda Station at all times.
Arrangements were made for gardaí to stay in The Riverside Park Hotel and walk between there and the station to work. Most of the gardaí went above and beyond the call of duty, opting to put in 12 hour shifts at the station rather than enjoying the pleasant surroundings of the hotel, but Garda Sergeant Colum Matthews said that thankfully, they storm passed with little incidence.
‘We had a few lads staying in The Riverside and there would have been five or six gardaí on duty in the station here every day at the height of things,’ he said.
‘ Thankfully, crime wise, we had very little to do. We would’ve had great trouble getting out of the station here anyway as the majority of the vehicles were snowed in. We have one special 4x4 here, but there were even limits as to how much that could do! Mostly we were taking calls from people who were concerned about elderly relatives and calling out to check that they were okay and that type of thing. Thankfully everyone we called on was doing ok.’
While it was quiet, with the majority of people heeding warnings to stay indoors, the past few days weren’t completely without incidence for gardaí. Unbelievably, on Saturday night a man was arrested for drink driving in Templeshannon, with the roads still in a fairly treacherous state.
Also gardaí are investigating a break in at Magic Prices in The Abbey Centre at some point between Thursday and Saturday.
While not much was taken, there was some damage to the premises and it was completely ransacked. Gardaí are asking that anyone who may have any information in relation to the break-in to contact them at Enniscorthy Garda Station.