Insult to hero garda

TWO YEARS after he was shot dead as he tried to protect a woman from her abusive partner, Garda Tony Golden has not been replaced in the station in Omeath, Co. Louth. Where once there were four officers, there are now only three.

The story is the same around the country as rural communities lie increasingly vulnerable to burglaries, assaults and other crimes because they have no visible Garda presence. Before his death, Garda Golden drew up a memo critical of reduced manpower, little knowing his own death would exacerbate the problem.

If the Government has any sense, then far from reopening suburban stations such as Stepaside purely for political capital, it will honour the legacy of Tony Golden and first of all replace him, then set to work beefing up numbers in every corner of rural Ireland.