Aontú East Meath representative Peter Whelan has revealed that over twelve months after requesting a meeting with Justice Minister Helen McEntee over the lack of Garda numbers in Meath he still hasn’t got a proper response to his application.
He told Meath Live. “I am waiting over a year for a meeting with Helen McEntee. It is more than a year ago that two Garda cars were rammed in Slane .
“This happened while there was no Garda presence in Slane Garda station . I immediately called for a meeting with the minister who was and is living within a few kilometres of the same station but as of yet have not even had a reply.
‘I left it on the long finger as Helen was on maternity leave but she is back behind her desk some time now and still no response, even a request from Aontú leader Peadar Toibin a month back to see if a meeting could be organised, has not been responeded to’
“We have had a dramatic increase in the spate of rural robberies in the last few months in the Meath area . Some criminals are blatantly trespassing in farms and rural communities casing out potential targets for burglary. These criminals are traveling from other counties because they know they can get away quickly without detection , due to the lack of frontline Gardai in our county.
“The Garda Representative Association, (GRA), are blue in the face calling for increased numbers on the frontline. The minister recently announced a fund for community groups after a ramming incident involving a Garda car in Dublin . Her own county , with the least amount of Gardai are asking for her to give the Garda commissioner the resources he needs to give Meath the numbers it needs and deserves .
” Meath has a population of near 250,000 people and growing . The people of Meath and all the hinterlands surrounding , are sitting ducks . Throwing money at community groups may be a help for the longer term of education etc , but it is the immediate criminal activities that are nothing to do with our community that need to be addressed . This is a policing problem and needs a policing solution. The people of Meath feel let down by this government and this Minister for Justice “.
