New Garda unit deploys as fight against gangs steps up a gear

The fight against serious crime in the county has been boosted with the establishment of a new rapid response armed unit which will be available for deployment throughout the Eastern region. Regional Support Units (RSU) were first rolled out in Cork and Limerick cities and the Eastern Regional Support Unit was launched in Mullingar last Friday by Assistant Commissioner, Dermot Jennings As reported three weeks ago by the Meath Chronicle, the elite armed unit will be based in Mullingar and will serve counties Meath, Westmeath, Laois, Offaly, Kildare and Wicklow. The unit comprises of four Garda sergeants and 20 Gardai who have been undergoing special training for the past three months. The RSU members will patrol in their vehicles like regular Gardai on patrol but the unit can quickly transform into an armed unit in response to incidents as they happen. The unit has been equipped with six XC70 Volvo vehicles that have been custom-made with enhanced engines and braking systems which have secure compartments to store a range of equipment including Sig Sauer 9mm pistols and Heckler & Koch submachine guns. The new unit paid its first visit to Meath yesterday (Tuesday) to familiarise itself with the county and the RSU will be carrying out joint checkpoints throughout the county with local Gardai on an ongoing basis. "The unit will be fully available to us 24/7 and will be working with us from time to time in joint operations, mostly checkpoints, and we will be targeting certain known criminals. It is early days but we will be hearing more about the unit in the coming weeks," said Sergeant Ronan Farrelly of Navan Garda Station. As well as assisting in checkpoints and in planned searches, the unit will also be available to respond to serious incidents as they happen. Sgt Farrelly explained that if Gardai are carrying out a search where they feel there may be a risk of firearms, they will automatically contact the regional RSU to assist, such as with searches involving drug dealers. The unit is also an additional resource to help in the fight against serious crime such as the spate of ATM and armed robberies which have occurred in County Meath in recent months. As serious crimes happen, the unit's officers change into their tactical uniforms, arm themselves and deploy to wherever they are tasked to be. Meath has seen a spate of serious robberies in recent months, including armed raids at Rathmolyon Post Office, the Bank of Ireland branch in Oldcastle, a filling station in Clonee and a high-profile attempted raid involving a large digger on an ATM machine at the Ulster Bank in Athboy. Officers are hoping the availability of the new crack Garda unit will act as a deterrent to criminals who consider rural Meath towns a 'soft touch'.