KildareNet News

NAAS, 17 April 2002: by Brian Byrne. Naas town councillors were unanimous in their condemnation of the situation which led to the deaths of two gardai at the weekend when their patrol car was in collision with a stolen sports car travelling at a reported 120mph.

The matter was raised by Cllr Eibhlin Bracken and strongly supported by Cllr Charlie Byrne, chairman of the Garda Liaison Committee of the council, who extended the council’s deepest sympathy for the deaths of two men ‘doing their duty’ to save other motorists from getting into danger’s way.

Cllr Timmy Conway said such incidents ‘will have to stop’ and called for those responsible to ‘be taken out of circulation’. Cllr Seamie Moore, whose son is a garda driver operating in the same area as where the weekend tragedy took place, said there was an impression that gardai had a ‘cushy job’ but one never knew ‘whether they’d come home safe’.

“We in this council should strive to motivate our own chief superintendent and members of the Dail to do something about young people driving ‘murder weapons’,” he said.

Cllr Pat McCarthy said so-called ‘joyriders’ had been ‘tolerated for too long’. “Two gardai went out with the highest of motives and paid the ultimate price,” he said.

Cllr Pat O’Reilly asked where were the parents of the 15- and 16-year-olds involved. “Have they any responsibility any more? There is something dramatically wrong with society when this happens,” he said.

Cllr Anthony Egan, suggesting that it was ‘not the night to be talking about what we can do about this’, said he wanted to be associated with all that had already been said. Cllr Mary Glennon sympathised with the families left behind and said it was all ‘just beyond words’.

Mayor Willie Callaghan concluded the non-agenda interlude by saying that if such young people ‘can leave a wife without a husband and children without a father’, they have to take responsibility for their actions.