Sir, - I was listening to the "My Kind of Country" radio show on Midland Radio Three on Tuesday, June 10th. At 7.45 pm, just as a song finished, the presenter interrupted to read out a list of locations of Garda speed checkpoints operating in the Offaly/Laois area. The presenter referred to "bears with hairdryers" (trucker's terminology for speed police) in two locations and warned truckers to be careful if in the areas. Worse still is the fact that members of the public had rung in with the information.
Not only was this wholly insensitive to families and friends of people killed or maimed by "speed addicts", but it also warned criminals in the area of the location of the checkpoints. Nice information to have if you re planning your escape route after robbing an isolated farmhouse.
Just a few days earlier, in the run up to the election, the same radio station was complaining of rural crime and the lack of Garda presence. Can anyone explain why one day this radio station was asking for a garda presence, and the next day was broadcasting all over Leinster the location of Garda checkpoints? - etc.,
Main Street,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.