Firm Mayo resistance to policing committee changes

THE dismantling of the county Joint Policing Committees (JPCs) is being strongly resisted by councillors in Mayo.

A raft of amendments to legislation to change them to a community policing forum are coming from senators, and the minister is being asked to not sign off so as to allow the same representation on the forum as there has been on the JPCs.

A 'retrograde step' is how Councillor Damien Ryan described the change, seeking clarity on the composition of the new forum.

Legislation still had to go through the Upper House and with amendments being recommended, he asked the minister to refrain from publishing the legislation.

There was support for his proposal to write to the minister and all national representatives to allow the space to facilitate the amendments and deliver a more effective forum, with representation similar to the JPC, which has worked very well in the county.

Concern was expressed by Councillor Michael Kilcoyne that we could go from having a Mayo JPC to a forum that also included Roscommon and Longford.

The department, he said, saw the JPCs as a 'thorn in their side' and wanted to get rid of them.

Another attack on democracy is how Councillor Christy Hyland summed up the change. They were trying to silence councillors in bringing up the true facts of policing and the demands of communities.

Councillor Mark Duffy agreed that the move to abolish JPCs was taking power further from communities. Councillor representation was vital so they can bring forward important issues affecting communities, he said.

Powers are being centralised when they should be brought closer to the people.