Ashford Garda Station

When I was a kid there was an ever present "presence" on the streets, the result of which was that crime was somewhat on the low side. Nowadays that presence is no longer visible and lo and behold, crime, both serious and petty, appears to have risen enormously. Whether there is a cause and effect situation at play here or not, I'm not exactly sure but I expect it to be tha case.

The presence I speak of was that of the local policeman of course. Here in Ireland the police force is officially known as An Garda Siochána, literally, The Guardians of the Peace. Alas some years ago some idiot decided that they should all be confined to motor cars or else be employed as pen pushers inside in the local station. Recently a more enlightened bunch of idiots thought it might be a good idea to equip some of the force with mountain bikes and fancy cycling gear. This was a great idea and has led to many muggings and smash and grab raids being foiled or at least the bad guys being caught very shortly after their nasty actions. A young policeman on a decent bike is difficult to run away from. One up for beaurocracy.

The good news is however overbalanced by the fact that many police stations have been and still are being closed down, leaving no police presence in vast tracts of the country. Ashford village is one such place. This station was closed several years ago. I guess the nearest policeman would now be something like 10 miles away. That's a pretty good head start for the bad guys. Strangely enough, the last sergeant in this station was Sgt.Tully. My namesake but I assure you, no relation.