Knocknagoshel officially went on guard at the stroke of the Angelus bell on Sunday evening. Then, the area’s new text system came into being and went live.
Organised and set up by locals in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, Sunday evening’s launch was attended by locally based Garda John Enright and Sgt. Paula Kelleher from the area headquarters in Listowel.
A Family Experience
It was from family experience of being hit by thieves that Geraldine Griffin decided to go the text service route.
Geraldine’s son’s van was burgled a few years ago and his possessions were taken by Tralee based criminals.
However, a phone call to Listowel station on the night and a prompt response meant that the criminals involved were caught before they had time to dispose of the stolen goods.
Started with a Meeting
“I called a meeting to set up something like this and very few attended. I asked Garda John Enright for advice and he told me to get the word around and he did the same and he also came to the meeting and it took off from there,” said chairperson, Geraldine Griffin.
“We had over a 100 people at that meeting and we never looked back after that.
Wonderful Support
“We badly need something like this in our community here as we don’t know who’s going to land into our houses or our yards next.
“I’m very grateful to Garda John Enright and to Sgt. Paula Kelleher as they have provided wonderful support in the setting up of this and in getting us to the point where we were able to launch our system here on Sunday evening.
Warn Each Other
“And I also want to thank Liam O’Sullivan from Kerry County Council for putting up the signs on the roads around the village.
“It’s up to all of us now here in the community to look out for each other and to be concerned for our safety. To be able to warn each other when we see something suspicious in our areas is wonderful and a great peace of mind to a lot of people around here,” said Geraldine.
For information on the text alert system simply click on the link here: https://app.communityalerts.ie/about/blog/117-garda-text-alert-an-garda-siochana
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