AN INCREASED Garda presence during the Traveller feud in Co Kerry had resulted in more law-abiding behaviour by the general population, a meeting of the joint policing committee in Tralee has been told.
The costs of dealing with the feud have been “significant” in terms of Garda overtime and other matters, a senior garda told the meeting.
It it understood that Garda Insp Martin McCarthy said there had been “significant” costs in dealing with the feud in terms of manpower and Garda overtime, and that the division had put “considerable resources” into it.
However, the checkpoints and increased Garda presence had led to a reduction in motoring and other offences among the population in general over the months of the Traveller feud.
The town council had mounted close circuit television cameras in the Mitchels Crescent area, the centre of the feud, and this was being monitored on a 24-hour basis by gardaí, the inspector said.
Tralee town councillor Johnny Wall said the cost of the feud was ultimately borne by the taxpayer and the town.
A special sitting of the Circuit Criminal Court is to be held in Tralee next week to deal with the appeals of those given prison sentences for their part in the feud.
The meeting was also told that the availability of heroin on the streets in Tralee had all but dried up with the arrest of four of the town’s main heroin dealers, who were now in custody awaiting sentence.