Councillor’s appeal to moderate comments on rural crime received immoderate response

By TONY GALVIN THE thwarting of raiders in the Turloughmore area by concerned citizens and community activists was hailed as a major success for community policing in rural areas when the event was raised at a meeting of the County Joint Policing Committee (JPC). The comments came on foot of a contribution from Tuam Cllr Shaun Cunniffe who appealed to members not to be sensationalist when making comments to the media on rural crime, and to moderate their statements. He accused some councillors of sending â€Å“a chilling message through the mediaâ€Â and referred to comments such as â€Å“God help North Galwayâ€Â as an example of what he meant. He also said some comments in the wake of the Fr Oâ€â„¢Brien attack had instilled fear in rural areas and appealed for moderation. His appeal was not well received, as several members took issue with his suggestion. Oranmore Area Cllr Malachy Noone said he had no intention of keeping quiet or tempering his language, as Cllr Cunniffe seemed to be suggesting. There was a great deal of frustration in rural areas over this issue and if he were to keep quiet and not voice his concerns he would not be representing his electorate properly.[private] â€Å“No wonder people are contacting the radio and the newspapers. They feel their concerns are not being listened to. There had been a great success in the Turloughmore area recently when it came to people looking after their own community, but there was an element of luck in this case. Not everyone would be so lucky,â€Â he said. Deputy Michael Kitt agreed. He said he didnâ€â„¢t know how moderate language could be used when discussing the Fr Oâ€â„¢Brien case in Caherlistrane. He had been at St Jarlathâ€â„¢s with Fr Oâ€â„¢Brien and he certainly wouldnâ€â„¢t be toning down his comments in case they offended anyone. He had raised this incident in the Dáil to highlight the very real concerns of people living in rural Ireland. JPC Chairman Cllr Pete Roche described the Turloughmore incident as â€Å“a real success storyâ€Â. Deputy Kitt also raised the issue of criminals leaving coded messages for their accomplices to indicate whether a house was worth robbing; whether there was a person living alone there or even to indicate that the house was not worth targeting. He said this was a wake-up call and referring again to Cllr Cunniffeâ€â„¢s appeal to moderate comments on the issue, he said, â€Å“I canâ€â„¢t be moderate about thatâ€Â. Cllr Michael Connolly said people were entitled to their views and he would not hesitate to speak out if he felt the need arose. However, he urged caution when it came to the issue of firearms. He said it was dangerous talking about people arming themselves and shooting intruders, which has happened in the past, because there was always the danger the gun could be taken off someone and used by an intruder on them.[/private]