No feud incidents in over six weeks in wake of armed garda roll out in Longford

The roll out of armed gardai onto the streets of Longford town over six weeks ago has received a ringing endorsement locally after it was revealed not a single feud related incident has occurred since the middle of June.

Gardaí in Longford have seen the number of unruly public order incidents tumble following a decision taken by senior management back in June to bring in armed personnel to try and keep a lid on escalating tensions between warring families.

Supt Jim Delaney said there had been no incidents linked to a number of previously simmering feuds since June 19, something which garnered the local garda chief was quick to justify.

“Our decision to escalate our presence may have caused some concern but it was done on a strategic basis,” he said, adding the move was made in close consultation with analysts from the force’s Western Region.

Supt Delaney was conscious to state presence of armed gardaí locally was not akin to Longford being in “lock down” but rather a concerted attempt to take the sting out of competing factions.

He said since their deployment, members from its unit had taken part in a third of all checkpoints from an overall 750 “proactive engagements” linked to the operation.

“There has been a number of successes and we have seen a significant decline in the activity that we were experiencing up to six weeks ago,” he said.

They were comments which, despite being largely welcomed by the majority of elected members, raised more negative reactions from other quarters.

Cllr Micheal Carrigy said while the reduction in violent episodes were to be saluted, the level of media publicity to come Longford’s way in the wake of the decision had been damaging.

He also said there had been questioning calls made to local tourism officials from prospective US visitors as to whether a proposed visit to the county should go ahead as a consequence of the decision.

“I just feel it did do a lot of negative damage to the town and county,” he said.

“I welcome the fact that there were zero incidents but I think if something similar was considered in the future we should look at it differently.”

His party colleague Cllr Browne, meanwhile, queried the level and scope of the armed response, saying the decision to bring in the Garda Air Support Unit for Cemetery Sunday last month was excessive.

“It reflected very poorly on Longford,” he said, stating the overall attendance by worshippers was below that of previous years.

“There were people who were afraid to go out there.”

Supt Delaney was both candid and unreserved in his reply, saying he would be making “no apologies” for a decision which had contributed to underpinning public safety and an all-round wider perception to serious crime.

“I would far rather look at a helicopter than witness someone being run over at a cemetery,” he said, in reference to a man in his 70s being struck by a car at an annual blessing of graves in Dundalk two weeks ago.

“We are back on course and the challenge now is to stay on that course,” he said.

Read also: Armed patrols in Longford are starting to pay off, says garda chief