The newly-retired head of the Clare Garda Division is calling for more resources to be allocated to the Gardaí to allow them increase their presence in rural Clare.
Bellharbour native John Kerin has retired after eight years as Chief Superintendent here and has been reflecting on his time in charge of policing the Banner County.
After more than 40 years of wearing the blue uniform, John Kerin has stepped down from An Garda Síochána.
Having worked in Limerick, Tipperary, Kerry and Cork, he returned to his native county in 2000 and has been Chief Superintendent here since 2010.
In this time, the force underwent a number of changes – crime rates were cut, but so too were Garda numbers while Garda stations here and further afield were shut down.
While Mr Kerin says the loss of the physical building hasn’t impacted heavily on us, it’s important to focus on getting Gardaí back out into country areas.
The new Chief Superintendent has yet to be appointed – that is expected in the near future – and John Kerin says he will assist his successor in the transition.
There have been widespread tributes to him to mark his retirement, and overall he believes trends with regards to crime are largely going in the right direction.
He does believe that there needs to be a focus on crime prevention, however, and thinks this will require more resources for Gardaí locally.
