KEEPING AN EYE ON THE COMMUNITY!
WHILE the inclination for most of us on these cold and dark winter nights is to stay in front of the fire and not stir, a dedicated group of volunteers are out patrolling their local community in a bid to keep everyone safe and decrease criminal activity in the area.
A true sign of community spirit being alive and well, the St Aidan’s Neighbourhood Watch is now going into it’s sixth year and in that time, it has seen a marked decrease in the amount of break-ins and anti-social behaviour in the greater Bellefield area.
‘It got started when there was a big increase in the amount of houses being broken into up this way,’ explained Chairman Bernard O’Leary. ‘We contacted the council about putting gates on the lanes up here, which they did, and it stemmed from there. For the last four years, we’ve been out patrolling around the area seven nights a week, keeping an eye on things and helping people out wherever we can.’
The group currently consists of ten volunteers who take it in turns to pull on their high-vis vests, pick up their torches and head out on patrol on even the coldest winter nights. With crime inevitably increasing in the winter months owing to the cover of darkness, the group try to maintain an even more visi- ble presence at this time of year, leading to them going out in all kinds of weather. Among the areas the group patrols are Moran Park, Bellefield, St Aidan’s Villas, the Ross Road and they also keep an eye on buildings like the CWCW and Lidl.
‘I suppose one of the biggest incidents we had which gained us attention was we stopped a group of young lad’s breaking into TD James Browne’s house,’ said Bernard. ‘ That one kind of got our name out there. Another night, we came across a gang trying to burn down Lidl and had to call the guards.’
‘We get great support from the gardaí for what we do though and the local community up here are very good too. When we were raising money for the neighbourhood watch signs, I think nearly every house in the area contributed and we also got great support from Grant’s Pharmacy who sponsored our high-vis vests.’
Over the past few years, Bernard says there’s been a noticeable decrease in crime and anti-social behaviour in the area and wished to thank everyone who has gotten involved and helped out in any way. The group are hoping to step things up even further with even more patrols on these dark winter nights.
Anyone interested in getting involved and taking part in patrols can contact Bernard on 0851088163.