Newcastle West community react to Halloween chaos in the town

ELECTED representatives, residents and business owners in Newcastle West have said that the Halloween scenes perpetrated by a "small element" have "brought the town to its knees."

Councillors in Newcastle West attending the district's monthly meeting this morning stressed that the "thuggery" within the town has progressed and are calling for action and resources to be implemented immediately by An Garda Síochána.

Cllr Liam Galvin (FG) stated that "the system has broken down" and that senior gardaí in Limerick "must be held to account."

"They have failed the people of Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale due to a lack of garda resources in towns. I don't want to hear about their promotions anymore. There were people held to ransom and serious damage caused in the town on Halloween," he said.

"The system has failed County Limerick," he told those present.

Halloween violence in Limerick town likened to 'The Purge'

Cllr John Sheahan (FG) said that gardaí are leaving the force due to poor conditions, poor wages and a new "paltry" pension scheme introduced in 2013.

He stressed that gardaí are "living under the microscope" and "are being held up in box-ticking exercises."

"You have a situation where no garda would intervene unless they had the armed response unit with them, considering what went on in Newcastle West on Halloween," Cllr Sheahan added.

Calls to change the laws around GDPR and using CCTV footage were made by Cllr Jerome Scanlan (Independent), who stated that even if footage of the culprits was secured via CCTV, it could not be used due to current restrictions set in law.

Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Francis Foley (FF) warned that "people will have to pay" for their actions on Halloween.

Following impassioned remarks, Cathaoirleach Cllr Michael Collins (FF) told his colleagues that Chief Superintendent Derek Smart will meet with councillors on Friday morning to discuss what happened in the town on Halloween.

Cathaoirleach Michael Collins has informed that elected representatives are due to meet the Chief Superintendent this Friday pic.twitter.com/ACPsVhRwTN

— cianobroin (@cianobroin1) November 2, 2022

The business community in Newcastle West have also been weighing in heavily on the impact that anti-social activity and the antics that occurred on Halloween has had on trading.

Speaking to Limerick Live, Tony Hayes, who owns Hayes Newsagents on The Square, said: "I closed a bit earlier as I was concerned about eggs and fireworks. It was unreal to see the videos and how reckless it all was."

He referenced one woman, who visited his newsagents the next day. He said she was panicked on Monday night after gangs of youths started to throw bins at her car, which can be seen in one of the videos circulating on social media.

"Some businesses rang for assistance from the guards and they didn't get a call back until the following morning," he stated.

He stressed that the gardaí on the ground are "at their wits end" with the situation. He has asked for a stronger garda presence around the town to assist the business community, who he said are now closing earlier due to fears of being the target of anti-social activity in the darker evenings.

Wayne Cronin, who owns Dan Cronin's Bar on The Square said customers in the bar on the night couldn't leave due to the anti-social activity taking place on Monday night.

"We tried ringing the guards, but it just rang out," he told Limerick Live. He wants gardaí to be present 24/7 to address the anti-social behaviour. "This is not good for businesses in the town. All of them had to close their doors by 9pm. We lost a lot of business on the night," he added.

He said that the chaos of Monday night is "just not good enough for a big town like Newcastle West."

Cllr Tom Ruddle, who is also President of the Newcastle West Chamber of Commerce is urging business owners to come forward with reports of what they witnessed on Halloween, to help catch those responsible.

Cllr Tom Ruddle has spoken with the business community in Newcastle West and has asked those with info to come forward pic.twitter.com/TBq9sal80p

— cianobroin (@cianobroin1) November 2, 2022

"We are doing everything in our power, we are working with gardaí to get more resources into the town, because what happened is totally unacceptable.

"We will do whatever we can to improve this situation. We need people to come forward to let us know who are these culprits that caused all the damage the other night," he said.

Check out the Limerick Leader next week for more views from the business community in Newcastle West.