Cork councillor worried that safety forums could hit push for more gardaí

A former lord mayor of Cork has expressed concern that local community safety forums could be used to “side-step” the issue of garda staff shortages.

Local community safety partnerships (LCSPs) were given a statutory footing in April of this year under the Policing Security and Community Safety Act 2024.

Under the Act, 36 partnerships will be rolled out nationwide, covering each local authority area.

According to the Department of Justice, LCSPs aim to “prioritise the voice of local people in identifying and addressing community safety issues in collaboration with broad range of relevant stakeholders”.

Those stakeholders are listed as including local councillors, An Garda Síochána, community representatives, business and education representatives, and a range of statutory agencies including the HSE, Tusla, and each local authority.

Former lord mayor of Cork, Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy, told The Echo that councillors had this week received a presentation on the partnerships.

“There is much to agree with, such as the sentiment that community safety is not solely the responsibility of An Garda Síochána,” he said, adding that a significant proportion of police time is currently spent on harm prevention, providing services to people with issues relating to mental health or addiction, homeless people, children, the elderly, and others at risk.

Functions

“It is positive to see that the new legislation is to redefine the functions of An Garda Síochána, including placing an obligation on relevant departments, State agencies, and local authorities to co-operate with An Garda Síochána and each other in relation to community safety matters,” he said.

“What I have concerns about though is that the new partnerships could be used as a way to side-step the issue of a lack of gardaí numbers in situ in stations across the country.

“The array of community safety forums in Cork city have also been effective in giving people a forum to raise policing issues.”

Mr McCarthy said community forums had been working well for several years in many parts of the city.

“Many an evening, there has been a robust debate between local residents and gardaí on policing needs in a given area, and I wouldn’t like to see them folding.

“There is much opportunity to build on such forums and the new national funding stream is very welcome, as is having co-ordination staff in each local authority,” he said.

“But pressure must be maintained to get more gardaí trained and to place them in the heart of communities”.

The issue of garda numbers has long been contentious in the Cork, and there was considerable criticism when the March and June graduations from the Garda Training College each time saw only three gardaí assigned to the city and three to the county.

Last week’s graduation, which saw 20 gardaí go to the city and five to the county, was warmly welcomed by the Garda Representative Association, but it warned that similar allocations would be needed across the next several graduations.