It's claimed the high level of convictions for drugs offences in the Clare Garda Division is evidence that efforts by Gardaí to tackle the drugs trade in this county are working.
It's claimed the high level of convictions for drugs offences in the Clare Garda Division is evidence that efforts by Gardaí to tackle the drugs trade in this county are working.
It comes as new figures from the CSO show Clare has the highest number of drugs offences in Munster outside of Cork City.
The latest CSO statistics appear to validate claims by local Gardaí that the level of crime here is low compared to other areas across the country.
But despite this, the number of drug offences recorded here is the highest in the region, outside of Cork City.
The Head of the Clare Garda Division believes this is due, in part, to the action being taken by Gardaí on the ground, saying that in the first 11 days of this month alone, almost 30 searches were carried out at premises across the county.
These included 9 searches in Shannon, 7 in the Kilrush area, 4 in Newmarket on Fergus, 3 in Ennis, 2 in the Ballina area and 1 each in Corofin, Sixmilebridge, Lahinch and Kilkee.
Chief Superintendent John Kerin says the figures show that Gardaí are acting on information provided to them by members of the public:
Sixmilebridge Councillor Alan O'Callaghan, who is a member of Clare's Joint Policing Committee, believes it's difficult to stamp out the drugs trade completely.
But he says these latest figures show every effort is being made to prevent illegal substances from getting to our streets.
Meanwhile, the Chief Superintendent Kerin has expressed hope that new Garda recruits will be made available to the Clare Garda division in January.
It's after Clare was snubbed in the latest batch of recruits, with none of the 145 Gardaí who passed out at a ceremony in Templemore in November assigned to stations in this county.
John Kerin has acknowledged that comparatively low crime rates here make it more difficult to argue the case for more Gardaí.
