065 671 9021
clareecho.ie
MAR 2 2023
‘Keep the doors RAISING THE BANNER locked and the windows shut’ by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie
THEFTS and burglaries are increasing across Co Clare and it’s up to the public to easily curb the rising numbers, the Chief Superintendent has said. “Keep the phones hopping, keep the doors locked and the windows shut” were the famous closing lines from Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny in the iconic Crimebusters skit from D’Unbelievables. Yet a similar sentiment
was expressed by Chief Superintendent of the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division, Colm O’Sullivan speaking at a meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee on the subject of thefts and burglaries. 2022 figures for the county have shown an overall rise in thefts of 48%, thefts from shops are up 29% while burglaries have increased by 16%. “Thefts can be easily prevented by ourselves. They are very easily
preventable,” O’Sullivan stated. He flagged that a vast amount of such incidents occur when cars are left unlocked or doors open. Possibly in the absence of an audience, Cork native O’Sullivan didn’t repeat Shortt’s other famous line ‘ye can’t be doing that lads’ but visibly Gardaí in the county are frustrated with the careless approach that is allowing thefts to easily happen. FULL STORY pg 3
l Emma Keating and Thomas Meenaghan at the Banner GAA Victory Social which was held at Hotel Woodstock. Thomas captained the U21B championship winning Banner football side
Photo by John Mangan