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MICHEÁL MARTIN WANTS to push forward with plans for a dedicated transport police to be established.
Speaking at the Fianna Fáil party Ard Fheis in Dublin last night, the Tánaiste said:
“Crime and anti-social behaviour can be a particular problem on public transport, and we believe a targeted approach is needed.”
He said work is underway to recruit more gardaí, stating that the government is also committed to bring forward proposals for a dedicated transport police for public transport services.
It is understood that government believes a dedicated Transport Garda Unit solely responsible for transport policing is now necessary, which will specifically deal with anti-social behaviour.
A senior source said everyone in government has heard the “horror stories” people have experienced on public transport, stating that a Garda transport police presence “should be there as a deterrent”.
It is the view that other major capital cities such as London, Berlin, Paris and Prague have dedicated transport policing units, and Dublin should also.
It is envisaged that the initiative would start with the capital, and then would be expanded to other Irish cities, such as Cork.
Government has struggled to meet is Garda recruitment targets in the last year, but due to expanding out the age limit in which applicants can apply, the latest recruitment drives have seen thousands apply to join the force.
In February, Siptu published a survey which found four out of five public transport workers have experienced abuse during the course of their work, and reiterated their call for a dedicated transport police.
Passengers refusing to pay, spitting on drivers and sexual assault are among the problems drivers have to deal with, with one driver telling The Journal she once had a brick thrown through the window of the bus she was driving.
Public transport have also reported seeing an increase in violence and anti-social behaviour towards other passengers.
Siptu has been calling for dedicated public transport police for decades, but the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has shot down the idea in the past.
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Practical solution? How about Russia withdraws back where they came from?
The Russians are desperate for any tiny victory and are getting more and more reckless and dangerous to grasp it.
@Tom Quinn: it takes them 2 months to capture a village we are gonna see them do worse things as this drags on
@Seán Ó Briain: Sean, instead of throwing a tantrum and going with the usual and predictable fake account, Russian bot BS because things aren’t going your way, how about looking at some cold hard facts?
Satellite images showing the position of the Russian forces, video of the attack and its aftermath. Note that they are approx 50 metres from a whole hell of a lot of nuclear waste. If you are comfortable with Ukraine dropping explosives that flaming close to a shed load of nuclear waste that’s fine by me but I doubt the rest of the world would agree with you.
It is a cold, hard fact that Ukraine fired explosives within an incredibly close distance of spent nuclear fuel and no amount of spin can get away from that. There was another strike there last night with the local officials saying that one of the missiles struck within 10 metres of the spent fuel. Although seeing as how the official is part of the occupational government I’d take his report with some reservation. In this case, I would wait until satellite imagery is available to confirm it.
The thing is that the only party so far to actually confirm that they have attacked the area is the Ukrainians themselves. While a drone strike would do little damage to the reactor, a hit on the spent fuel would be a disaster of their own making.
@Digital Marketing Growth with Jarvis.ai-Free Trial: But it is unavoidably Russias fault. They shouldn’t bloody be there in the first place, and no amount of half baked essays on ‘duh facts’ can cover that.
@TheJournal Here’s a link to your own comments policy because you obviously need a refresher. (thejournal.ie/comments-policy)
Is journal. ie censorship a thing. 16 comments yet only 9 on display.
My comment from earlier GONE
@Gerry Dornan: it certainly is Gerry and apparently on the rise. Plenty of lively and interesting threads deleted for no apparent reason.
Heard recently that the Russian plan is to survive till winter. When its gets bitterly cold in Europe and then they stop all gas supplies to Europe. Will Europe see electricity blackouts and rationing of energy. Europe is very much dependent on Russian energy and what will happen without it. Will we see industry forced to stop. Factories shut down. Germany is heavily dependent on Russian gas for electricity.
It’s all about Geopolitics…. a big game playing out in front of millions. The ruble vs the petrodollar!!!
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Russian gas exports are down overall but because of the price being so high they are actually making more for less. Add to that the fact that China, India and other countries taking up the slack from the EU and Russia is doing OK for themselves so far.
In the meantime the EU and especially Germany are screwed, we are paying over the odds for fossil fuels and all because of a knee-jerk reaction by our EU overlords. You can be guaranteed that the people who thought out (or didn’t as the case may be) these sanctions won’t be freezing this winter. No planning for future energy security and kowtowing to the US means that the whole of the EU is in a bad way.
Putin’s forces will dig into the areas that it has captured and slowly advance from there. In the meantime, people in the EU will start suffering blackouts and will have to watch their TVs while wrapped up in blankets and sleeping bags. It’s all very fine now but comes the winter it will be interesting to see what public sentiment is.
Russia has plenty of energy supplies to keep its population warm and its economy going something that the EU won’t have. When sanctions really start to bite and its people in the EU feel the worst effects I expect that people mightn’t be so harsh to criticise people like Sabina Higgins calling for ceasefire and negotiations.
@Digital Marketing Growth with Jarvis.ai-Free Trial:
what should the EU have done after the invasion happened?
Don’t tell us what they ‘shouldn’t have done’ we’ve got that from your comments already.
Tell us what they ‘should have’ done after February 23rd.
have your say