More Garda patrols on Navan streets in wake of anti-social behaviour spike

An Garda Siochana in Navan has responded to an increase in public order and assault offences in Navan by stationing members in a van on Market Square on Saturday nights and puting two members on the beat during the day as often as possible, the Meath Community Safety Partnership's first annual meeting heard last week in the Solstice Theatre, Navan.

A successor to the former joint policing committees and embracing more of a community representation, the new group dealt with questions mainly pertinent to the county town - it is often the case that when such meetings are held, that it is the host area that throws up the main issues.

Responding to a question on garda presence in the town to thwart anti-social behaviour, Inspector Peter Gilsenan, acting for the retiring Supt Martina Noonan, said that over the summer, in July and August, there had been a notable increase in drunkenness offences and assaults. Incidents were up by 10 on the same period in the previous year.

Inspector Gilsenan said that himself and the Community Garda, Charley McNulty, had recently met with local businesspeople and stakeholders in the town to discuss the issue, and had agreed that a more obvious garda presence was needed, returning to a previous method of operating.

They felt that a stationary van on the square was more effective and worthwhile than driving around the town which could take 10 minutes and take the van away from the core.

That has been implemented over the past five weeks as much as possible, and there has been a slight reduction in assaults and public order and drunkeness offences over those weeks.

Inspector Gilsenan said that it was also learned from the meeting with businesspeople that here is a lot of activity in the town during the day which was making people feel uncomfortable, so he had introduced a daily beat, and incidents are reviewed at the daily morning meetings.

The town is divided into areas, with a focus on Kennedy Road, Market Square and Ludlow Street, the central core, with two people on the beat during the day.

They are aiming for every day rotas, and have achieved that 99 per cent of the time. Resources are getting back to normal, having been disrupted for the visit of US President, Donald Trump, and the European Union Presidency.

It is intended that all these actions will be in place until Christmas, with a stakeholders review meeting half way through to anticipate if cover may be needed on Friday nights as well, if particular events are taking place around the town.

Community Garda McNulty also responded to a question regarding intimidation of town taxi drivers, and illegal parking on the taxi ranks.

Taxi drivers are experiencing illegal use of the ranks on Kennedy Road and Abbey Road, particularly on Sundays, and are subjected to verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour by private car owners when they politely ask drivers to vacate the rank, especially on Sundays, and weekend nights at the rank at Jackal bar and Bank of Ireland on Market Square.

Garda McNulty said that they had previously ran operations targeting parking in disabled spaces, and he would bring back the query and look at the taxi ranks. He said that the addition of the weekend patrol in the town would help the situation.

Garda McNulty explained that there were now five community gardai working with him in Navan, and two in Kells, and they would examine the problem.

A question concerning the situation at Cannistown National School was raised by the community there, who says that the shortage of parking is an ongoing serious problem, even though the council has installed footpaths and double yellow lines to prevent illegal parking. Yet there is still parking on these footpaths, causing children to walk on the road, putting them at risk. There is no safe crossing point or beacons, and instances of confrontations between road users, the question stated.

The query asked when would a proper traffic management and pedestrian safety scheme be put in place.

Brian Hora, a senior executive officer with Meath County Council, said the solution to the situation is to eliminate the unregulated parking on public road, and as such the responsibility to address these apparent dangers that exist on the road principally rests with the board of management and those drivers who are behaving in a way that is contrary to the rules of the road.

He said it is not the responsibility of Meath County Council to provide safe parking at schools - that is the responsibility of the school, and enforcement of the rules of the road is down to An Garda Siochana. The council's roads safety officer visited the school to make a presentation to the pupils on all aspects of road safety, and this was very well received, he said.

Inspector Gilsenan said that they engage with many schools on a regular basis, and there are a number with parking issues, and he was well aware of the Cannistown situation.

The community gardai will visit schools and liaise with the council's road safety officer from this month, Inspector Gilsenan said. They will engage with parents, inform them of illegal parking, discuss better driving behaviour and complying with directions, and ultimately, enforcement, which is not something that they would want to have to do, bearing in mind that these parents are under their own pressures, but at the same time ensuring road safety is prioritised.