‘There is a sense that whatever was holding us together is falling apart’

Michael Walsh sat by his cousin Tom Niland’s bed in the intensive care unit of Sligo University Hospital one evening this week and relayed to the unresponsive man the latest news . He told the 73-year-old about the religious relics strangers had sent him, about the grandmother he doesn’t know who posted get-well cards from her grandchildren, and about the unusual spectacle last Sunday when gardaí on horseback passed his house on the N59 as the investigation into the burglary and savage assault on him by three masked men four weeks ago continues.

Walsh doesn't know if his cousin can hear him but he keeps him updated on the outpouring of sympathy and horror the attack has generated, and the concern amplified by subsequent attacks on a brother and sister in Cork, and on a 72-year-old man in Kildare.

People in west Sligo have been locking gates that were never padlocked before as they fret about whether the people who attacked their neighbour will be apprehended

Meanwhile as gardaí and advocacy groups stress the importance of not whipping up fear among those living alone, people in west Sligo have been locking gates that were never padlocked before as they fret about whether the people who attacked their 6ft 3in “gentle giant” neighbour will be apprehended.

Senior gardaí have been quick to point to statistics which record a drop in burglaries in recent years, albeit over a time period which included stringent lockdowns when gardaí were diverted into rural areas. According to the figures, the number of residential burglaries dropped from 18,800 in 2015 to just over 6,000 in 2021, a reduction of 66 per cent. Aggravated burglary was down 20 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the Garda press office.

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Ray Wims, a north west representative for the Garda Representative Association (GRA), says that a reduction in the number of frontline gardaí in Co Sligo is affecting response times and the ability of officers to tackle crime.

'The Garda Síochána has to be honest about how we can provide the same service with 35 less guards'

According to Wims, Garda Síochána figures show a drop in the number of frontline members in the county from 139 at the end of 2010 to 104 on December 31st last.

“The GRA cannot afford to scaremonger the local community, but the Garda Síochána has to be honest about how we can provide the same service with 35 less guards,” he says. “In 2010 we had crime, but not the amount of violent crime and drug-related crime we have now.”

As a community garda, he says he knows that “the fear of burglary is nearly as bad as the crime itself”.

He believes slow response times, including from the Garda Armed Response Unit (ARU), are an issue in some areas.

Armed backup

"The average response time in Sligo is one to two hours for armed backup," he says, explaining that the ARU is summoned from Galway or Ballyshannon when a suspect is armed with a knife or other weapon .

Brendan O'Connor, vice-president of the GRA, agrees that manpower is an issue in rural locations and says station closures and embargos on recruitment "stripped rural Ireland of its permanent Garda presence".

"My own station, Dunfanaghy in Donegal, a popular, busy tourist town, traditionally had three gardaí and one sergeant but I am now the only member attached to it and have had no patrol car for a number of months. Such scenarios are not uncommon across the country," he adds.

He cites training as an issue, and says many gardai who drive patrol vehicles are prohibited from using blue lights and sirens or from exceeding the speed limit when it is safe to do so. “Such a policy can only impact negatively on response times and hinder the effort to intercept and disrupt criminals operating across the country.”

Sociologist Perry Share says that while the violent nature of recent attacks focuses attention on crime in rural areas, the reality is that “the people who are really vulnerable are the people in poverty-stricken parts of Dublin. That is where nearly all the crime is.”

The IT Sligo lecturer says that because of the rarity of aggravated assaults in rural communities, when a few “particularly nasty” ones happen over a short period they generate a lot of attention.

Share points to the 2019 CSO Crime and Victimisation Report, which found that 4 per cent of households had suffered a burglary or vandalism to their home in the previous 12 months, with the highest rates (6 per cent) in Dublin and the lowest (2 per cent) in the border and western regions.

“That shows that the people who are experiencing the most crime are in Dublin,” he says.

Trespassers

Meanwhile, the main crime reported by farmers in the CSO report was trespass on their land, adds the sociologist. He believes that people are more likely to be killed in rural areas through disputes over farms, than as a result of aggravated burglaries.

Criminologist Matt Bowden agrees that crime figures are higher in cities but says a distinction must be drawn between statistics, and the day-to-day impact on a community when a violent burglary is reported.

“The figures don’t matter when a horrific incident like this [the attack on Tom Niland] occurs,” he says. The senior lecturer in sociology at Technological University Dublin says the closure of Garda stations added to “the sense of abandonment and neglect” in rural communities at a time when other facilities such as banks and pubs are also closing. “There is a sense that whatever we had which was holding us together is falling apart,” he says.

Following recent reports of city crime gangs carrying out hundreds of burglaries in western counties, the lecturer says “it makes a lot of sense”, given the improved road network, that criminals are availing of easier access and egress opportunities.

As friends and neighbours of Tom Niland struggle to come to terms with the violence of the assault on him, Bowden says this has become a hallmark of crimes in recent years.

Meanwhile organisations such as the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and Age Friendly Ireland are keen to point out that while older people and people living alone should be “on alert”, they should not be terrified in their homes.

“We want to change the narrative about older people, who hate the word ‘elderly’ as it makes them seem needy and vulnerable,” says Catherine McGuigan, chief officer of Age Friendly Ireland.

IFA deputy president Brian Rushe and assistant Garda commissioner Paula Hillman, co-chairs of the National Rural Safety Forum, met this week to discuss the issue of crime in rural areas.

Rushe says that with many farmers now having part-time jobs, “farming has changed quite a bit – there are fewer people knocking around the farm”.

‘Great comfort’

The IFA official said that when the gardaí rented 200 cars during the pandemic to assist with community initiatives such as delivering shopping to those cocooning, “it gave great comfort to people to see those cars with the word ‘Garda’ written across them”.

'I do not think people are frightened. People are aware and taking precautions.'

Rushe acknowledges that people in Tom Niland’s community are suffering – “their sense of comfort and safety has been sucked out” – but it is crucial not to have people feeling vulnerable in their homes. “I do not think people are frightened. People are aware and taking precautions.”

Kitty Hughes (77), chairwoman of Longford Older People’s Council, agrees.

“Like everybody, we are coming out of Covid and we are finding our feet. Some are still not going out because of worries with regards to health.” Garda visibility is key to ensuring people feel secure, the retired teacher said.

“We would like to see more gardaí driving around. It is a deterrent. If you are driving and you see a Garda car, you straighten up and make sure you are doing everything right.”