Fears local crime concerns in Louth ‘will be lost’ in new community safety partnerships

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

Louth councillors fear direct links with gardai on local crime issues will be lost on the new forum set to replace Joint Policing Committees.

Frustration with plans for the Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP), which hasn’t even held its first meeting yet, were aired at the monthly meeting of Ardee Municipal District.

The LCSP will replace the former Joint Policing Committees which were wound up in 2024. The Louth LCSP is expected to meet in October, with two councillors from each of the municipal districts nominated to sit on the forum.

The Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Cllr. Sean Kelly, is also expected to take a seat.

But, councillors from the Ardee area spoke of their dissatisfaction with the scrapping of Joint Policing Committees at their September meeting.

Cllr. Pearse McGeough argued there would be less representation for the mid-Louth area on the county wide forum.

He said he had raised serious issues, such as concerns about drug intimidation, directly with gardai through the JPC system, and progress had been made.

Cllr. John Sheridan said the views of councillors on the community partnerships had been flagged with government, adding “ But our Oireacthas members let us down.”

He argued that “representation would be lost as the simple fact is 29 into six does not go.”

The meeting saw councillors being asked to put forward nominations from Ardee Municipal District to the next full meeting of Louth County Council, where a vote on membership will take place.

Councillors Jim Tenanty and Pearse McGeough were nominated.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr. Sheridan said: "It has been flagged for many years that these changes would lead to the exclusion of councillors.”

He added the JPC (Joint Policing Committee) forum “worked very well as we had direct meetings with gardai, which allowed us to share information.”

"It is very unfortunate that our TDs and Senators did not listen councillor’s warnings.”

"Councillors feel that this is removing our ability to communicate with gardai on behalf of our constituents, and communities won’t be as safe as a result.”

The “soft power” of the JPC forum, said Cllr. Sheridan, was that councillors were in direct contact with gardai, had contact details for the relevant gardai and “were able to give them a heads up issues that arose and vice versa.”

"It allowed for things to be tackled well in advance, and gave us that security that we could speak to gardai in confidence on particular issues.”

Cllr. Sheridan said that when special operations were being planned, around events such as festivals or parades “we would get notice of this and it meant that everyone was on the same page.”

He said that the municipal budget had provided funding for events, such as Halloween, which saw councillors linking in with gardai directly on a policing plan.

The mid Louth councillor also pointed to confusion around how Municipal Districts were to nominate candidates for the community safety partnerships.

“The farce of a meeting last week was a result of there being a lack of guidelines, and a half baked plan.”

He added concerns that towns like Ardee “simply won’t have the level of representation” on a county wide forum.

"Some councillors, including myself, would be very resentful that we won’t have that direct line to gardai anymore.”

“I have every confidence that Councillors Jim Tenanty and Pearse McGeough will represent us well on the forum, but by removing everyone else I think it is a step in the wrong direction.”