'Safety in Public Places of Offaly' report presented to policing event

A copy of the “Safety in Public Places of Offaly” report was presented to the Joint Policing Committee Networking event held on Thursday in Dublin by Cllr Mark Hackett.

The event was organised by The Policing Authority and was attended by representatives of Joint Policing Committees from across the Eastern and Midlands Region, including members of An Garda Siochana, PPNs and elected representatives.

Cllr Hackett, who was Chair of a subgroup of Offaly Joint Policing Committee which considered Gender Based Violence in the public spaces of Offaly in 2022 said he was delighted to receive the invitation.

“The subgroup looked at the reality and perception of gender-based violence in public spaces in Offaly. Through the Offaly Safe Day in June, town walkabouts in Edenderry, Birr and Tullamore and an online survey, we got good insight into public perception of how safe they are in our public spaces.

In general, most of us feel safe during the day but not at night. Women, and minority groups are less likely to feel safe in our public spaces at any time. We brought this feedback to a number of stakeholders and ended up with 13 recommendations for improvement. These range from Council staff and elected representatives undertaking awareness training to more beat and bike patrols by An Garda Siochana” he said.

“These surveys, the Safe Day and the recommendations are generally low cost and high impact.   There was great enthusiasm at the regional event on how transferable the actions are to other counties. While I was delighted to share the Offaly experience with the wider audience, my focus remains on the 13 recommendations.   I am working with Offaly County Council and Offaly JPC and am very confident we will implement them.“