Galway would be badly caught out due to the absence of CCTV across the city in the event of a widespread riot similar to the one in Dublin last week which grabbed world headlines, the local Garda chief has warned.

Chief Superintendent Gerry Roche made the comment as he revealed that the Garda critical incident team have met twice to assess how they would react in the face of orchestrated public disorder.

He told a public meeting of the Galway City Joint Policing Committee this week that all Garda divisions are working on a national basis to determine their strategy to combat street violence.

Chief Supt Roche said there were 42 public order officers fully trained to combat violence in the division, while all officers had some training in terms of baton and pepper spray use.

Limerick City had far more cameras than Galway, which was one area that Galway had a major deficit in terms of policing, remarked the Chief Supt Roche, who had worked in Limerick for six years.

“One camera is worth ten police. We’re hopeful we’ll soon get to the stage of getting in a proper application for funding from the Government. If we had what happened in Dublin, we would not have the same capabilities for detection.”

There were just 16 cameras being monitored in the Garda control room. Galway Gardaí were dependent on private property owners to download footage when it came to investigating criminal incidents.

“Now, thankfully, we’re beginning to have a serious conversation about upgrading our cameras.”
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