South Mayo community responds to wave of burglaries

A Community Alert Group has been launched in Claremorris following a spate of robberies from private dwellings in the area.

Of the 11 burglaries which have taken place in Mayo over the past two weeks, six of those occurred in the Claremorris area and three in the Mayfield area of Claremorris.

Aontú's general election candidate in Mayo, Paul Lawless, said it was heart breaking to hear from the victims, many of whom won’t return to their homes alone ever again.

“The fear and anxiety these thugs have caused is disgusting,” he stated.

Mr. Lawless said 197 gardaí graduated from Templemore last week but not one of these will be allocated to Mayo, an issue he has raised with the local Garda Superintendent.

“With a population of around 150,000 people in the Mayo district, our county, in theory, should be allocated six from a pool of nearly 200 new gardaí. Mayo already has the lowest number of gardaí per square kilometre.

“The best form of protection in these circumstances is an alert neighbour,” he added.