Publicans and business people have called for a full-time Garda station offering 24-hour surveillance in the town of Ballymahon, Co Longford, following the serious assault of a publican in a fracas involving up to 25 people.
The Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) yesterday called on gardaí to take strong action against violent behaviour by members of the community, settled or Travelling, following last week's incident in Skelly's bar in Ballymahon.
Publican Peter Byrne, who was assaulted after refusing to serve a group of people more alcohol, claimed it took gardaí about two hours to respond to his call for help.
Mr Byrne defended the work of local gardaí, whom he claimed do not have sufficient resources, but called on the Minister for Justice to provide a full-time Garda station in the town.
Currently, Ballymahon relies on local Garda stations such as Athlone, Longford and Roscommon. In recent years, the town has been subject to bank and post office raids. In May of last year, three masked and armed raiders held a family and three postmen hostage in Ballymahon post office.
Following the incident in Skelly's bar last week, nine members of the Travelling community appeared in court on assault or public order charges. In response, gardaí said that manpower in Ballymahon has been increased by 25 per cent since May 2005.