Gardaí step up patrols around antisocial behaviour hotspot

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Gardaí have stepped up patrols in the Millars Lane area of Knocknacarra following a series of issues with antisocial behaviour in recent weeks.

The problem culminated with the arrest of five youths on December 5, when the window of a Garda car was smashed.

A number of areas, including near Monkey Business and around Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh, had become hotspots for bush-drinking teens since lockdown.

There are now regular Garda patrols in the area, particularly at weekends, which has been welcomed by local area councillor John Connolly, who lives nearby.

“It [antisocial behaviour] had been building for a few weekends, and it culminated with the arrests. It had been empty cans and broken glass, but staff members from the retail park have felt intimidated and cars have been egged.

“The numbers have been increasing over the past few Saturday nights, up to 50 or 60 of them. They’re aged between 16-18, I’d say,” said Cllr Connolly.

“There were a number of different sites within the area where this was happening, including Millers Lane and the adjoining soccer pitches, Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh, the office block where Aviva and RSA are located, the forecourt of Monkey Business/Pure Skill and the commercial centre around Dunnes, Harvey Norman etc. So it was quite a vast area.”

(Photo: the former builders’ compund adjacent to Aldi in Knocknacarra, which was noted as one of the problem areas).
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