Connacht Tribune
Galway’s new Chief Superintendent vows to target drugs gangs
Galway’s newly-appointed highest-ranking Garda has vowed to go after organised criminal gangs involved in drug dealing locally.
Garda Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche said that he would focus on community policing and crime, in particular tackling organised crime and drug dealers, as head of the Galway Garda Division.
Introducing himself to the County Galway Joint Policing Committee (JPC) annual public meeting held in Claregalway Hotel on Monday, the Abbey/Duniry native said he has served in Dublin, Limerick, Sligo and Kildare.
He was posted to Galway in 1996, and served in three different ranks of An Garda Síochána, and was stationed in Clifden, Ballinasloe and Loughrea. He spent eleven years as a detective, and he established the first drugs unit in Galway in 1999.
This week he vowed to “tackle organised crime, especially drugs”, during his tenure as Chief Superintendent.
He said that simple possession of drugs was a ‘personal choice’. And while Gardaí would continue to prosecute people caught with drugs for personal use, the focus and resources would be on targeted at drug dealers and organised crime gangs involved in drug trafficking.
Senior Data Analyst Olivia Maher, on behalf of Chief Supt Roche, explained there had been 31 detections of drugs for sale or supply in Galway City and County in the first ten months of this year. That’s down 30% on last year, and down 16% compared with 2019, pre-Covid.
There were 92 incidents of simple possession up to the end of October, which was up 42% year-on-year, but a 28% reduction compared with 2019.
Almost €1.5 million worth of drugs were seized in the raids, including €1.2m worth of cannabis with the bulk of it related to a large seizure.
Galway County Councillor from Ardrahan PJ Murphy (FG) disagreed with focusing on dealers. He said that people who use drugs should be targeted too because without them there would be no market for drug dealers to supply.
Chief Supt Roche paid tribute to his predecessor, Chief Supt Tom Curley who officially retired on Monday night at midnight.
He said he would continue and build on the work that Mr Curley had achieved in the Division.
After years serving in other counties, Chief Supt Roche declared that he was ‘back home’ and he was ‘not going anywhere’.
In his opening address to the public meeting, Chief Supt Roche addressed concerns of public representatives around police numbers in Connemara.
He said that An Cheathrú Rua now had a new sergeant and four Gardaí. Another Garda has been allocated to Moycullen, bringing its allocation to two, and Oughterard has four, he said.
Several public representatives questioned the effectiveness of the new Garda policing model introduced in Galway, and in particular the impact of Connemara’s Superintendent being based in Oranmore.
Gort-based Garda Inspector Georgina Lohan gave a presentation to the meeting explaining the rationale behind the reorganisation, which included more front-line Gardaí and more accountability.
She said civilianisation has resulted in 36 additional Gardaí being reassigned to front-line duties, and the Galway Division’s total Garda strength has increased by 33 in the past ten years.
The total strength of the Galway Division was 623 in 47 stations, plus about 100 support staff.
Chief Supt Roche warned, however, that between 10% and 12% of Garda staff could be on long-term leave because they have been seriously injured while working. Long-term could be four or five years, he said.
Numbers were further depleted by Covid-19 sickness, maternity and other leave and holidays, he said.
He said that the low level of Garda recruits coming out of Templemore meant that ‘holding what we have’ in terms of Garda strength was his focus – he would not be sanctioning transfers out of the county.
Chief Supt Roche added that a review of the new policing model and its impact on Connemara and the entire division would be held within three to six months.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
