Will Garda return to Donegal/Derry border post Brexit and mount checkpoints?
A well-known Co Donegal Garda has spoken of his fears that rural crime in the county could rise sharply if a hard Brexit comes in along the Derry border.
Enda Dunne, from Ballybofey, fears rural areas will be left vulnerable to crime gangs and dissident republican groups because of a lack of resources along the border.
Dissident gangs involved in terrorism have been using the border recently to bolt following attacks on the security forces.
Gda Dunne, who has 25 years policing experience, told how there was so much “uncertainty” over Brexit within the ranks.
The officer, who spoke to the Irish Sun at the Garda Representatives Association conference in Galway, called for rural communities to be protected and for more resources to be provided in the region.
He said: “Brexit is down the line and if there is a hard border we have no policing plan in place. This is a serious matter and we need to have discussions.
“We need to see more of a visible presence on the ground — more resources so we can have people on patrol. Burglaries are the main focus at the moment and we have over 60 checkpoints in my district to disrupt this criminal activity.
“There is also a lot of subversive activity but we aren’t kept informed of any dissident activity yet 99.9 per cent of the time we are the people who will be the first to respond to an incident involving subversives.
Uniformed gardai are the first responders. Resources are also a huge problem at the border.
Last week armed detectives and uniformed Gardai mounted a checkpoint near Stranorlar with Garda saying it was linked to border security measures.
“What happens is that people are taken off the border stations to augment units at headquarters — effectively leaving huge swathes of the rural community without the service they deserve.
“It’s not uncommon where you could have two officers covering an area of 65km within the Letterkenny district. We just need more manpower along the border.”
