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A NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH group set up three years ago has seen one South County Dublin area experience a huge drop in burglaries in that time.
Sallynoggin Neighbourhood Watch has confirmed a drop in burglaries for the third consecutive year since its establishment in 2008. SNW said at its meeting last night that burglaries dropped by 18 per cent for the Sallynoggin area in 2011.
This brings the total drop over a three year period to a 68 per cent within the community from 59 burglaries in 2008 to 19 for the year 2011.
James McCann (25), is chairperson of the SNW, and set it up at the age of 22 after spending time in the army. He told TheJournal.ie that he wanted to do something within his community, and after a spate of burglaries felt a Neighbourhood Watch group was needed.
McCann described Neighbourhood Watch as “decent people trying to do decent things for people in the community”. There are six people on the committee and they meet regularly.
When we first set up the Neighbourhood Watch, my own house was burgled. It wasn’t a bad burglary but there were many that were had their homes wrecked and jewellery and posessions taken. Sallynoggin is only a community of 1400 homes so it sent shockwaves through the town.
The group sends out a quarterly newsletter which gives updates and also basic advice for keeping homes safe. They also hold regular information meetings and work with the community gardaí, who talk to people about practical things you can do to safeguard your home.
It has secured €30,000 in funding for security features for 79 older residents which McCann claims “has greatly enhanced their peace of mind”.
“The support of the gardai has been fantastic,” said McCann. “We can get in contact with them at any time to discuss issues. They are a real asset in making the whole thing work because without them we wouldn’t have access to the info or resources.”
Working closely with the community gardaí has led McCann to fear that cuts within the garda síochána could lead to community gardaí being taken away from regular duties.
Community gardaí have become the most important asset in policing in my view, their presence and the connections they make within a community are absolutely vital in tackling crime but most importantly preventing it too. The impact of the cuts in policing is pulling community gardaí out of their intended roles to close operational gaps and with the new shift rotas that have come into place it will be more difficult now for community gardaí to play their much needed roles within communities.
McCann explained that Neighbourhood Watch can help reduce crime in areas by encouraging people to do simple things like double locking doors.
It can also be used to protect the most vulnerable within communities and even help tackle anti-social behaviour, graffiti or littering. There are many challenges facing An Garda Síochána in the future and active NWs can help make meeting those challenges that little bit easier so I would call on Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to ensure the retention of community gardaí as a priority so that the support they provide to groups like us can continue.
Yesterday, the Garda Síochána confirmed it had created Operation Fiacla, a nationwide initiative that targets travelling criminals and their activities.
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the biggest obstacle is religion
The biggest problem is lack of education. I have lived in the AIDS capital of the world and religion was not the barrier there
religion is a barrier to education
Religion has nothing to do with this.
It’s lack of education and knowledge. Full stop.
I agree education is key, education in safe sex and removal of tribal cultures surrounding ‘cures’ for HIV, and especially key is the education of women – as they tend to be more likely to pass onto children, where culture and tradition have not yet become indoctrinated.
However, Africa has a boom in Catholicism: http://www.africamasterweb.com/AdSense/AfricaAndCatholicism.html
And the official Vatican stance and that of catholic relief and aid workers is that condoms are not to be condoned or distributed: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june11/vatican_05-30.html
This is despite condoms and testing being key to the decrease in HIV infections in the Western World.
Have you checked the numbers between countries with many Catholics and those with the highest AIDS rates? They might not match as closely as you believe.
Most of Southern Africa, which is where you will find those countries with the highest rates of AIDS are actually predominantly protestant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Africa#Southern_Africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_by_country#Africa
Just to point out that I am actually an agnostic and so not a Church supporter but there’s no point blaming them for something that is not entirely their fault
Without getting into lies, damn lies, and statistics I would wonder how much of those protestants in Southern Africa are from an ex-pat background and therefore less likely to be an victim of HIV?
Like I say, I’m not discounting what you’re saying – I’d just like to see relief organisations (of which many are Catholic) move towards teaching and promoting safer sex, rather than unrealistic abstinence.
Most of the Africans in Southern Africa are protestant.
Most African catholics were converted by Catholic Missions who generally stayed around mid-Africa whereas the protestants (English, Dutch, etc.) settled and converted in Southern Africa.
I’ve grown up there. I know the statistics
I would like to say that I too, would like to see a realistic approach to teaching safe sex and use of condoms as opposed to using the ridiculous notions that Africans will follow the idea of abstinence
Siomha,
I remember Bishop Desmond Tutu addressing a WHO conference and declaring that the attitude of Catholic missionary and aid groups to condom use had exasperated the spread of the disease in Africa.
Religion is only a small part of it – need to look at the bigger picture!
I’ve been living with HIV for seven years. If it wasn’t for the antiretroviral drugs I’d be dead. Huge advances in the treatment and decreases in the stigma attached to the virus have been achieved, but there’s still a long way to go. The virus is seen as a manageable disease and therefore not the threat is once was. This is folly. I wish the only impact on my life was the taking of a tablet each evening. Little is known about the long-term effects of these drugs; nor about the very real risk of dementia, cancers, pneumonia, skin conditions and the host of opportunistic infections being infected leaves you prone to. Education is everything.
Why does Concern’s Senior HIV Adviser never mention the use of CONDOMS to fight Aids in developing countries? NOT MENTIONED ONCE.
I find that surprising as well. Condoms are the main way to prevent the spread of AIDS and nearly all anti-AIDS campaigns use those as their main platforms.
Maybe it is more than just the use of condoms that is important?
Si it is more but they are the best way to prevent AIDS spreading. Every campaign should highlight that
Could have sworn I heard the news on the radio say infection in young people here had risen sharply
The article doesn’t break down the infection rates by demographics so you could be right. The overall trend seems to be going the right way.
You did hear that. Young men 24 to 39 at highest risk, I think. Ignorance is on the rise because the heyday of AIDS campaigning was 20 years ago when they were little kids.
Hmmm.. There were people in Swaziland eating faecal matter not so long ago because they couldn’t take their AIDS meds on an empty stomach (talk about skewed priorities – drugs are more important than FOOD now?)
This article also points out that in the place where new infections are rampant nutrition and sanitation leave a lot to be desired..
Wonder how many people in the 3rd world get “diagnosed” with AIDS when malnutrition and poor sanitation is the true reason their immune systems don’t work? Bearing in mind that the “tests” (ELISA and western blot) specifically state that they are unsuitable for determining the presence of HIV, a virus that has not been isolated. Rather these tests measure viral load and antibody response (and can test positive if you have the flu, are pregnant, or have just had a vaccine – hence the two tests taken several weeks apart).. There are people starving, they are obviously not adequately nourished, and instead of making sure that they can eat – drugs take priority (and companies like concern just keep pushing that appalling quality soy based muck and drugs approach rather than building self sustainability and organic farming)
I do not wish to detract from the seriousness of the problem, but something here reeks of fish..
have your say