Clueless? Shatter
Donegal Fianna Fáil Deputy Charlie McConalogue has accused the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter of refusing to acknowledge the serious and escalating burglary problem in Donegal and of dismissing the fears of local homeowners.
Deputy McConalogue said the Minister’s comments at a press briefing in Dublin today exposed his total lack of understanding of the specific policing challenges facing Donegal and the border region.
“Alan Shatter clearly has no clue what is actually happening in Donegal,” said Deputy McConalogue.
“For the Minister for Justice to describe recent attacks here as ‘unfortunate’ shows how out of touch he has become in a very short period of time. He compounded this by attempting to dismiss the genuine fears of Donegal residents who are feeling increasingly vulnerable in their homes at this time.
“How can the Minister downplay this terrible spate of aggravated burglaries, when every single day we hear stories about criminals targeting yet another vulnerable Donegal homeowner?
“The Minister’s answer is not to address the problem, but to completely dismiss it and press ahead with plans to shut down 5 more Donegal garda stations within the next two weeks and force cuts to garda numbers.
“Before he completely dismantles our local garda resources, Minister Shatter would be well-served by leaving Dublin for a day and coming up to Donegal to hear for himself the very real anxiety among homeowners here and the impact on our communities of removing the local garda station.
“I am urging the Minister to take a step back from his assault on our local garda resources and meet me to discuss this extremely worrying local crime wave. The Minister has so far refused to acknowledge the specific policing challenges facing Donegal and the border region. It is time for him to stop dismissing these very real problems and start addressing them before more people are hurt.”
Earlier the Minister told the media in Dublin that Donegal “wasn’t a special case” when it come to rural crime and insisted Gardai are targeting the criminals.
He said almost 2,000 criminals were charged in the 26 Counties last year with burglary offences.