Gardai are struggling to police the Derry-Donegal border because of a lack of resources, rank and file members of the Southern police force have claimed.
Officers were speaking out after a series incidents involving criminals believed to be from Derry.
Rank and file officers claim Garda HQ “fail to understand” that they cannot patrol a border region so close to the city – which has a population of more than 100,000 people – with so few officers.
Three days of crime this week have included:
:: Raids on four premises in Raphoe in which property including a van were stolen on Sunday
:: A man left with broken legs after he tackled thieves outside a wake on Monday
:: A woman held at knifepoint as her car was taken near Raphoe on Tuesday.
“We’ve been given an impossible task,” one outspoken Garda told Donegal Daily.
“The PSNI are brilliant; we work closely with them but criminal gangs are now operating at will along the border.
“Recent reported incidents are just the tip of the iceberg; gangs can travel into Donegal from Strabane or Derry and be away again in minutes.”
The officer concluded: “People talk about the forgotten county; well it is the forgotten county as far as policing is concerned. People in Dublin just don’t get it and don’t get me started on Alan Shatter.”
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