Crime and intimidation forces gardai to patrol Balgaddy area

An Garda Síochána will allocate a Community Policing Unit to patrol the Balgaddy area, as increased levels of criminal behaviour and intimidation have left residents living in fear.

The four-man unit will be allocated to patrol Balgaddy on foot and by car on an “ongoing” basis.

The news was announced at the North Clondalkin, Lucan and Palmerstown Local Policing Forum on November 20, and was welcomed by coordinator Noreen Byrne, who also coordinates the North Clondalkin Community Development Programme and the Community Safety Forum.

She praised An Garda Síochána’s response to the ongoing issues in Balgaddy but noted that these are the result of poor resources for the area in the first place.

“The drugs issue in particular, that requires much more than policing,” she told The Echo.

“Whether people are being intimidated or not, there’s a perception of being unsafe in communities where drugs are sold.

“This is about resources being put back into the community that were taken away because of the wipe-out of community resources in 2010 by the government of that time.”

She said there was a lack of “complete understanding” by state bodies or government departments of the impact of “structural poverty” on communities like Balgaddy.

“You have people getting involved in drug-dealing, and very young people getting involved in it because sometimes that’s the only money they will earn,” she noted.

Representatives from An Garda Síochána and South Dublin County Council were in attendance at the Local Policing Forum, which took place at Balgaddy Youth and Community Centre.

As well as the new patrols, the council also announced €100,000 in funding to extend the Connect 4 project, a street-work youth team based in Killinarden/Jobstown into Clondalkin and Balgaddy.

Council staff also answered questions regarding the turnaround times for vacant council properties within Balgaddy.

Typically it takes 21 weeks for staff to turn vacated council properties around and make them habitable for new tenants, but this process takes longer in incidents where the property has been vacated due to fire damage or arson attacks.

Funded by The Local Democracy Reporting Scheme