Community Alert relaunch

After an extended break due to pandemic restrictions, Community Alert groups will gather for a relaunch of the initiative.

Community Alert is a community safety programme for rural areas with an emphasis on older and vulnerable people. It operates as a partnership between the community, An Garda Síochána and Muintir na Tíre. It works on the principle of shared responsibility for crime prevention and reduction.

Community Alert provides a two-way forum for engagement with their local gardaí. Responding to a question from Deputy Niamh Smyth about when the programme will be relaunched Vanessa Clarke, Muintir na Tíre, said: “All of the local Community Alert groups will get notification about the event. It is in the Kilmore Hotel on March 24. We hope to have two or three members of each of the groups to have a good conversation around where we are going.”

Ms Clarke flagged another important day on the calender: “The national community engagement day, which will see ourselves An Garda Síochána and other agencies like the IFA, takes place on the April 27. As happened before there will be venues, like supermarket, where members of he Community Engagement Unit will be visiting. Community groups will be joining them so that people can meet and greet the unit members.”