Locals cry out for more gardaí after ‘eruption’ of disturbing incidents
ELDERLY and other vulnerable people living in north Dublin are crying out for an increased Garda presence in the area following the brutal attack on a pensioner, according to local sources.
Former Fianna Fáil councillor Mary Fitzpatrick said the vicious assault last week on a man in his 80s at his home in Drumcondra is the latest in a string of incidents in the area that has left locals living in fear.
A Drumcondra resident who confronted two knife-wielding thugs in balaclavas in her front garden said an ‘epidemic’ of criminality has erupted in the area since the closing of the Whitehall garda station in 2012.
The woman named Phil (61) was among a number of mostly middle-aged and elderly local residents who attended a public meeting in Glasnevin last night organised by Ms Fitzpatrick to discuss their concerns over the growing incidents of criminality and anti-social behaviour in the area.
“What’s happening now is an epidemic,” she said. “I’ve lived here for 20 years without a problem.”
But that all changed when Phil and her husband returned home one evening before 10pm last September and found thugs in their front garden.
One of them escaped to a neighbour’s garden, while her husband was able to briefly detain the other individual before he too ran off, she said.
The incident was so disturbing that the couple installed motion-sensor lights and CCTV cameras.
But even that proved to be no deterrent when the couple were on holiday recently and their 23-year-old son was home alone.
He was woken up at 2.30am when the motion sensor lights went on and CCTV cameras captured a criminal brazenly staking out the cars in their driveway without any sense of urgency before he went on to damage other cars in the area.
“I’m so angry,” she told the packed meeting. Despite having the CCTV footage, the suspect was never arrested, she said. “There’s no consequences.”
She said her experience was one among a growing number of incidents occurring in what was until recently a quiet area.
“We live in a good area. I know the guards are under-funded. Closing the Garda stations was the worst thing ever.”