Irish Examiner view: Local gardaí are essential for proper policing

Wed, 19 Jul, 2023 - 02:00

Everyone has an opinion on policing and public safety, and while this is not the same thing as being an expert, that has never held back energetic discussion of those topics.

One core belief in this area is the significance of police visibility and presence, not just as a clear deterrent to crime, but as the marker of police officers who are an intrinsic part of the community rather than a force which enters that community on occasions which lend themselves to confrontation.

This last scenario hardly helps the police to become integrated into a neighbourhood.

In Ireland this challenge is further complicated by the appalling revelations yesterday in the 'Irish Examiner' in print and online about the disposal of Garda stations.

Under the 2012-3 rationalisation programme 139 garda stations were closed, but while 59 of those have been “disposed of”, 28 are “being prepared” for disposal, while nine more are “under consideration” for closure.

This means that not only are 37 Garda stations in limbo, 28 of them are still being prepared for closure 10 years after the rationalisation programme began. It beggars belief that it has not been possible to finalise closure of these facilities in over a decade.

The wider question of whether those stations should have been closed in the first place also remains valid. The fallout in terms of breaking the connection between communities and police was stressed this week by the Garda Representative Association (GRA), whose president claimed that promises that there would more patrolling and ‘smart policing’ to take up the slack never materialised.

He also stated that some garda stations which are officially open do not have permanent staff.

The removal of services has had a particularly acute effect on rural Ireland, where many communities have also had to endure the loss of vital facilities from post offices to banks. The closure of a garda station — and, per the GRA, the lack of staff in a station that is ostensibly open — has even more serious ramifications. We learned this week that those closures deserve even closer scrutiny, though reversing those decisions might be a better option.

The law clear on TV licence charge

In the wake of the ongoing RTÉ payments scandal, it can hardly be a shock that the number of people paying for TV licences is down.

Still, the figures which came to light yesterday were bracing. The number of people paying the TV licence has fallen by 5,837 in June and the first week of this month when compared to the same period last year. That fall represents a significant loss in income amounting to €933,920.

As noted, this is no surprise, not when the new director general of RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst has apologised to the broadcaster’s audience for letting them down, and when it is generally accepted that RTÉ will have to work hard to restore people’s trust.

Unpopular though it may be to hear, however, purchasing a TV licence is a legal requirement and not an instrument of protest. It is a basic principle of democracy that a citizen cannot choose which taxes they choose to pay. Nor can someone decide to pay taxes to fund only those services which they approve or avail of.

Readers might point to the recent headlines featuring a Dublin District Court judge who was highly critical of RTÉ ‘freeloaders’ when cases involving non-payment of TV licences came before him.

There was a lot of attention paid to judge Anthony Halpin’s references to Orwell and Shakespeare as he blasted elitism within RTÉ.

All good, knockabout fun, and sentiments many readers will agree with wholeheartedly. What fewer people focused on was the judge’s acknowledgement that the law must be enforced. He stated that it is a criminal offence to have a TV without a TV licence, and the offence on conviction carries a fine and a record of conviction for a crime.

RTÉ is clearly an organisation in need of restructuring and reform, and the Oireachtas committee hearings of recent weeks have proven that, providing a showreel of entitlement, arrogance, and complacency along the way.

However, the law is still the law.

Bríd speaks out

Sports fans have no shortage of entertainment on offer in the coming weeks, with many of us focused on Australia and Ireland’s chances in the Fifa Women’s World Cup. Coming just after Wimbledon, and with the GAA intercounty season coming to a climax in the coming fortnight, there is plenty of high-end, elite sport to enjoy.

We got a timely reminder this week of the individuals behind those sports on the Ciara Phelan Podcast. In a frank discussion, Cork football star Bríd Stack opened up on the podcast about the challenges she has faced.

Stack spoke about the two miscarriages she has suffered, the most recent occurring just before Christmas, describing it as “absolutely devastating. It did take a lot longer to make my peace with that one [miscarriage].”

There can be a lot of loose talk about role models and heroes when it comes to sport, not all of it fair to the athletes themselves. It can often be unreasonable to expect a person’s excellence in a specific physical endeavour to be matched by the moral example they set.

However, given that in Ireland 14,000 women experience miscarriage each year — 20% to 25% of all pregnancies — Bríd Stack’s openness will hopefully help others who face similar challenges.

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