Limerick councillor resigns from Joint Policing Committee
ABBEYFEALE councillor Liam Galvin has resigned from the Limerick Joint Policing Committee, saying his position on the committee is no longer tenable.
The committee, which meets once a quarter, is made up of councillors, members of the Oireachtas, senior garda management in Limerick and community representatives.
“It is with regret and after much consideration that I have made this decision,” the Fine Gael councillor said in his letter of resignation. “However, I believe that my position on this committee is untenable due to the absence of policy implementation and the lack of progress in tackling issues which I have raised at committee meetings.”
Cllr Galvin says he has sought to initiate a discussion as to how best to find solutions to the problems facing communities across Limerick.
“However my efforts have been unsuccessful. This is disappointing in the extreme as I firmly believe that much progress could be made in this regard should there be a sense of openness and co-operation among all the stakeholders.”
Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Cllr Galvin it was his belief the JPC was a forum for discussing policies with a view to forwarding them to the Minister for Justice.
He said he is interested in getting action on two policy issues in particular - holding parents responsible for their children when they are engaged in anti-social or criminal behaviour and reducing the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years. ”But the JPC said no,” the councillor stated.
“I am not interested in sitting down listening to figures when the figures are distorted because of the amount of crime that goes unreported,” the councillor added.
He intends to continue attending meetings of the Newcastle West Municipal District Joint Policing Committee, he added.