Crime must be reported so garda can record true figures
KILNAMANAGH Neighbourhood Watch held a well-attended meeting in the St Kevin’s Family Resource Centre on Monday evening, which also featured a send-off for Cllr Charlie O’Connor.
The Fianna Fáil councillor for Tallaght Central recently announced that he will not be contesting the upcoming Local Election after many decades of representing the area in the Dáil and the council.
The meeting began with a presentation thanking Cllr O’Connor for his years of service, while local man Thyes Kavanagh was announced as the candidate who’ll be running for Cllr O’Connor’s seat.
A spokesperson for Kilnamanagh Neighbourhood Watch said: “It was a very successful meeting and there was a warm outpouring of appreciation for Charlie O’Connor.
“We made a very small presentation to him, and people expressed their appreciation for everything he’s done over the years.”
The meeting then moved onto matters concerning crime in the area, where local gardaí commented on the low level of crime in the area, but a need for more incidents to be reported.
“The guards spoke about the low level of crime in the area but made the point that that’s no use to someone who’s the victim of crime, because it’s major for them,” said the group’s spokesperson.
“In terms of statistics, they said there are probably crimes in the estate that they’re not aware of, so they emphasised that no matter how small or insignificant a crime might be, it needs to be phoned in and recorded so they can get true figures for what’s going on.”
Hot topics among the crowd of between 70 and 80 attendees included car break-ins, scrambler bikes on the GAA pitch and illegal parking at the roundabout in Kilnamanagh.
Facilities for St Kevin’s Kilian’s GAA Club were also discussed, with plans being put in place by South Dublin County Council for a tender for the delivery of a sports pavilion in the area.
Commenting on how the meeting went overall, the Kilnamanagh Neighbourhood Watch spokesperson said they have received very positive feedback.
“For the first time in the 12 years we’ve been doing this, I got six texts from people saying it was an extremely good meeting,” they said.
“People got to ask the guards their questions and they were answered, and there seemed to be a tremendous atmosphere of positivity.”
