Late night drug deals in graveyard

“It makes people very angry that this activity could be taking place on sacred ground where loved ones are buried,” the lady speaking about anti-social behaviour in Bailieborough is visibly upset.

Recent incidents of vandalism, illegal dumping and suspected drug dealing in the environs of St Anne's graveyard have encouraged people to contact The Anglo-Celt to express their concerns about the activities, writes Thomas Lyons. The lady in question is voicing what many community members are thinking.
“I'm not a spokesperson. I'm just a concerned resident. The whole community will tell you what is going on,” she says.
It's a cold Friday morning. The icy roads have caused me to be late for our appointment. The lady I am meeting, who did not wish to be named, has availed of the time to walk around the graveyard on the crisp afternoon.
Her reluctance to be named reflects a concern that - by speaking out - she may be targeted. She will be referred to as Mary: “We know for a fact it is drug dealing. There were needles found up there,” she points across the snowy landscape, across the crosses and monuments, to the top of the graveyard.
St Anne's burial place is quite expansive and, if it's being used as a rendezvous for drug dealers, the clear sight lines would afford them early warning of any approaches by the authorities.
“The gates [of St Anne's] are not closed at night. We don't understand why they are not closed. Just last night two cars drove in at one or two o'clock in the morning. They are not coming in to pray at that time of the night. Earlier in the week, a resident who was going to work at 4:45am met two cars coming out of the cemetery,” Mary fills in the details of some of the out-of-hours activity.
There have been other incidents causing concerns for the locals: “Last year fireworks were set off at the top of the cemetery. There have been beautiful pots taken from graves, stolen and sold in markets,” she says.
Cllr Sarah O'Reilly confirms the views of the elderly Bailieborough resident: “There are some people who have no connections with the graveyard, have no relatives buried there and who would not strike you as the religious type who call into St Anne's at night. It's ongoing, all the time, especially at night,” the Fianna Fáil councillor says.
She raised the matter at a recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee. Cllr O'Reilly spoke to the new Chief Superintendent of Cavan Monaghan Garda Division, Colette Quinn, about her worries: “The Chief Superintendent took a note of my concerns. She did say that she would do something about it and agreed it was an area that could be looked at.”
The Lisnalee elected representative says this is not a new issue: “It has been going on for a while. People are concerned about what is happening. I would like to see more patrols in this area - more visibility from the Gardaí. I know that they are under resourced. I would like to see CCTV in the area.”
One of the suggestions to address the problem is the community-based CCTV scheme. However Cllr O'Reilly says that it is not a clear cut solution: “We are told that the money is there, but getting the money is another issue. There are 65 pages of forms to be filled out. That is a very arduous task for any community volunteer. It is also very costly to the community to host and maintain the CCTV infrastructure.”
Cllr O'Reilly says that she is not scaremongering: “Don't get me wrong, Bailieborough is no worse than any other town. Every town and village in the country is faced with the problems associated with drug use. The people coming to the grave are vulnerable, some having lost someone close to them recently. It is not acceptable that they can be intimidated.”
That intimidation is something that Mary feels very strongly about: “There is a bad element in the town. There is a lot of drug dealing in daylight and anti-social behaviour. It has destroyed our town. There is intimidation of elderly people, drinking in public places, young people walking around in gangs. Gardai say they will look into it, but nothing is being done. We never see guards on the beat,” she says.
Anyone with any information on the problems can contact Bailieborough Garda Station on 042-9694570.