Cork Penny Dinners call: ‘More gardaí’ needed to patrol city streets

Caitriona Twomey from Cork Penny Dinners says that the streets need to be safer for people in Cork city, and that a combination of more garda resources and more addiction services are needed to achieve this.

She told The Echo that she and the other volunteers do not feel threatened by the people who use their service, but that they worry for others.

“We feel safe out there, everyone is very respectful to us, we’re very lucky but respect goes both ways, we respect them so they respect us and thank God for that.

“Because by all accounts, the streets aren’t safe at the moment, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work that out – nobody should be hurt on the street but we have seen that happen. I am always hoping that they could be made safer, that the gardaí could be given the manpower they need – at the moment, they can’t be in every place at once.

“What they do at the moment is fantastic, the gardaí help us all the time, but they don’t have the support they need.” Ms Twomey explained: “We see all sides to everything, and one of big things I’ve noticed is that 99% of the people in Cork are amazing people.

“The gardaí as well, they are amazing for what they do, they really give everything to try and keep others safe, but the streets have to be made safe for them as well.

“They are people too, they have families at home worried about them while they’re out on the frontline – nobody should be at risk whether it’s people working on the frontlines, people out at night socializing or those just walking through minding their own business.” 

She is hopeful that the next government, once in place, will implement meaningful measures to make all types of people safer in the city centre.

“Measures must be taken – I’m hoping the powers that be provide resources to frontline workers because they’re short of staff and they’re constantly asking for more resources – we need the government to fully buy into this.” Another area that needs resourcing is services for those in addiction, she said, adding that not all who use their service have addictions, but those that do are particularly vulnerable.

“What we need is more treatment centres, more accommodation for people in addiction – these services have a good success rate but we can’t have success without support and a proper plan in place.

“We know that people who are homeless are finding life hard enough as is without being at risk all the time – they deserve to be safe from being attacked, and safe from being belittled, you might see somebody who’s homeless and they could be totally tormented or having a bad day, people need to be kind in their outlook to them.

“I’m going home and getting into a warm bed, I couldn’t imagine having to sleep in the street – I don’t think I’d survive it, and people have to survive it night after night.”