Garda Chief defends rural drink driving clampdown
By Tom KellyThe Garda officer in charge of the Castlebar District, Superintendent Joe Staunton, last night refused to comment on claims that the authority's intensity in clamping down on drink driving in rural areas of the county had reached 'unnecessary levels.' The senior officer said the force had a difficult job to do in keeping death off the roads, and they had no apologies to make to anybody for the number of arrests which had been made for breaches of the drink driving laws. Supt. Staunton stated the figures for drink driving offences underlined the need for strict enforcement in all areas. "The number of arrests has been very disappointing, and it is obvious that motorists are still prepared to take the risk of driving home after having consumed alcohol. "I cannot comment on the enforcement of the laws in any area of the county, but we have a responsibility to prevent accidents and we should not have to apologise to anybody for that. Thankfully, there were no fatal accidents in the area over the last two months, and we will always encourage the public to comply with the laws." Supt. Staunton said a complaint had been lodged to him by a public representative over the fact that the Gardai had allegedly 'lost the respect' of people living in rural communities. He did not name the representative, but said it was untrue and unfair for anybody to suggest there was a level of hostility towards the Gardai in any area. When contacted by the Connaught Telegraph last night, the chairman of Mayo County Council, Mr. Al McDonnell, admitted being approached by many people over what he described as 'the unnecessary intensity of Gardai operations' in rural areas. "People are extremely concerned by the way in which certain areas have been targeted since before Christmas. "So hostile have some members of the public become that, in the event of serious incidents occurring, the Gardai may not get the co-operation of the public in solving major crimes.' Mr. McDonnell said he knew for a fact that many of the people who were breathalysed in the general Ballyglass, Ballintubber, Islandeady and Belcarra areas over the past number of weeks were 'marginally over the limit.' "They were never a threat to themselves or anybody else,"he added. Mr. McDonnell has been supported in his claims by Senator Paddy Burke. When contacted, he stated there was 'great anger' in the public domain over the issue. "People who consume two or three pints at weekends have been targeted. While I am not condoning drink driving in any form, what I am saying is the public resents such people being singled out. These are people living in areas which don't have the benefit of taxis or buses.' Senator Burke said young people in rural communities were
very responsible in organising buses to discos in nearby
towns."But they were targeted when they returned home at
three or four in the morning to a location from where they
may have to drive a half a mile to get to their
residences."
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