Review of cancelled ‘999’ calls continuing in Galway

A review into the cancellation of 999 calls in the Galway Garda Division is ongoing.

Councillor Owen Hanley (Soc Dems) raised the issue at a meeting of the Galway City Joint Policing Committee.

At a meeting last June, Chief Superintendent Tom Curley confirmed that an internal inquiry had found that 53 domestic abuse calls to 999 were cancelled by members of the force in the Galway Division between 2019 and 2020.

He had hoped to bring a report to the next meeting, but at last week’s meeting, Chief Supt Curley said the review was “ongoing” and he was not in a position to comment further.

Cllr Hanley had asked for a follow-up to the report at the previous JPC where it was outlined that domestic violence 999 calls had been cancelled.

He also asked for comment on a Policing Authority report “that indicates that 999 calls continue to be cancelled by Gardaí after measures have been introduced to address this issue”. He asked “whether Galway is included in this continued behaviour”, and actions were being taken to “tackle this on-going concern”.

He said that the Policing Authority had indicated that 999 calls were still being cancelled was “very concerning” particularly in relation to domestic violence calls.

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