By Chris Ashmore
THE Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Councillor Paul Canning, has queried the knock-on effects when public houses are raided by gardaí in rural areas – and the difficulty people can have getting home.
He recalled that recently gardaí carried out a number of raids in the Newtowncunningham area (including St Johnston and Carrigans).
He pointed out that in rural areas there are not as many taxis available as there are in urban areas. He said that in a situation where a pub closes its doors at 12.30am the problem is that if the gardaí land at 1.10am there are still people in the place.
In a recent case, there were about 60 people still in a bar, even though it had stopped serving. But when the gardaí arrived, the people had to vacate the premises. This meant that many of them were waiting to get taxis at the one time, and there might only be two taxis in the area.
He also pointed out that some people can be sitting in their cars with the heat on, waiting for taxis. “Would they have been done for drunken driving?” he asked.
He called for clarification on this matter.
“If a bar is closed and not serving, is there a time frame to allow people to get taxis,” he wondered. His comments came at a meeting of the Donegal Local Community Safety Partnership in Lifford yesterday.
Meanwhile, Chairperson Gerry McMonagle and Donegal Local Community Safety Partnership Coordinator Francis Conaghan reported on a meeting that they had recently in Dublin following the establishment of some 36 Community Safety Partnerships that have been rolled out nationally. A national strategy is currently being finalised on local community safety, and this will tie in with local community action plans.
“It is a new process and we are all learning but there is a resourced office in Dublin,” Mr Conaghan explained.
Cllr McMonagle added: “We all have a role to play here and can all bring something to the table. We have a very good partnership here which is well representative of the community that we live in.”
