COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, February 13, 2023

HEADED ITEM NO.7

Report of Meeting of South Dublin Joint Policing Committee Meeting held at 10am on Friday, 27 January 2022

(Hybrid Meeting hosted in the Council Chamber and facilitating remote access via Microsoft Teams)

In attendance:

Committee Members: Cllr. Lynn McCrave (Chair), Cllr. Carly Bailey, Cllr. Mick Duff, Cllr. Shane Moynihan, Cllr. Derren Ó Brádaigh, Cllr. Eoin Ó Broin, Cllr. Cathal King, Cllr. Shirley O'Hara, Sean Crowe, TD, Emer Higgins, TD, Paul Murphy TD; Superintendent Thomas Gormley, Superintendent Anthony Twomey, Inspector Liam Casey, Inspector Paul Mayock and Sarah Middleton (all An Garda Síochána); Noreen Byrne, John Conroy, Sue Dorgan (all South Dublin Public Participation Network representatives); Grace Hill (Drugs and Alcohol Task Force representative) and Colm Ward (South Dublin County Council).

Also present: Sergeant Ciaran McLoughlin, Crime Prevention Officer, An Garda Síochána

Council Staff: Maria Nugent (Administrative Officer), Fionnuala Keane (Senior Staff Officer), Margaret Farrell (Clerical Officer) and Rachel Keogh Clerical Officer)

Press: Maurice Garvey and William O’Connor (both The Echo)

Apologies: Cllr. Emma Murphy (Mayor), Cllr. Yvonne Collins, Cllr. Baby Pereppadan, John Lahart TD, Chief Superintendent Finbarr Murphy, Chief Superintendent Peter Duff, Superintendent Paul Dolan, Trevor Bisset, Rita Harte.

The Chairperson, Cllr. Lynn McCrave, opened the meeting at 10 a.m.

  1. Presentation: New Framework for Community Policing – Introduction to Problem Solving & SARA for JPC’s

Sgt. McLoughlin introduced a video presentation, giving an overview of the SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment) crime prevention model which focuses on environmental design in public areas.

Questions from Cllrs. Ó Broin and Bailey in relation to community policing, the possibility of having lighting in parks for the evening times and the practical reduction of hedge growth on pathways and open spaces to help with natural surveillance were answered by Sgt. McLoughlin and the presentation was noted.

  1. Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 18th November 2022 were proposed by Deputy Higgins, seconded by Cllr. D. Ó Brádaigh and agreed as a true record of the previous meeting.

  1. Matters Arising

Deputy Higgins asked about the possibility of a public meeting in Adamstown raised at the last meeting.  C. Ward responded that a JPC public meeting would be organised in 2023 and that this matter would be discussed by the committee at the next meeting.

  1. Correspondence

Relevant correspondence was circulated and noted including the request for submissions to the DMR West Policing Plan for 2023.

  1. Governance

The Chair noted there are currently two vacancies on the Committee following the resignations of former Councillors Peter Kavanagh and Deirdre O’Donovan from South Dublin Co Council and that the vacancies will be filled by the Council as soon as practicable.

  1. Garda Síochána Reports

The report outlining the responses by An Garda Síochána to issues raised in advance by JPC members was noted.

DMR South:

Supt. Gormley provided the DMR South report, noting in particular, that several local meetings have taken place with relevant stakeholders in relation to the issues with Dublin bus.

There were queries and comments from Cllrs. McCrave, King, Ó Brádaigh, Dunne and Deputy Crowe in relation to neighbourhood watch schemes, crime prevention talks in schools, circulating details of local community gardaí, reported incidents of anti-social behaviour at luas stops and increased scrambler activity. Supt. Gormley responded to the queries and advised that he would update where necessary at the next meeting.

Cllrs. Duff and King acknowledged the endeavours of An Garda Síochána in seeking to resolve the situation with Dublin Bus and thanked them and all parties for their continued engagement in that regard.

DMR West (Lucan):

Insp. Casey presented the report for DMR West (Lucan) and then responded to a query from Cllr. Moynihan in relation to Operation Irene.

DMR West (Clondalkin/Rathcoole):

Supt. Twomey provided a report for the DMR West (Clondalkin/Rathcoole) area.

Deputies Higgins and Murphy, and S. Dorgan raised various issues relating to Citywest and the policing responses there which Supt. Twomey provided updates on.  There were further comments and questions from Cllrs. O’Broin, Cllr. Bailey and Cllr. Dunne in relation to specific data in the presentation which were responded to by Supts. Twomey and Gormley.

The various Garda reports were then noted by the Committee.

  1. Local Policing Fora Reports

The LPF reports which were circulated in advance were noted by the committee at the Chair's request due to the limited time remaining in the meeting.

  1. Drugs Sub-Committee

The report in relation to the Drugs Sub-Committee which was circulated in advance was noted.

  1. Any Other Business

It was proposed and agreed that representatives from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth be asked to provide a presentation on their work in relation to providing accommodation and supports for both beneficiaries of temporary protection relating to Ukraine and international protection applicants at the next meeting of the committee.

  1. 2023 Schedule of Meetings:

The proposed schedule of meetings for 2023 was noted.

The meeting concluded at 11.57 a.m.