As investigations continue in Galway into the murder of a taxi driver, Mrs Eileen Costello-O'Shaughnessy (47), two months ago, local businesses have called for increased Garda resources in the State's fastest-growing city.
While Galway's crime level is "no worse than any other urban area", its chamber of commerce believes garda numbers do not match those of Dublin or Limerick per head of population. Limerick, with a population of 52,000, has more than 100 extra gardai than Galway (population 57,000).
Reported crime in the West is down 6 per cent according to the last published official figures, and detection up 2 per cent. And this trend continued last year, according to Garda sources.
However, Galway city accounts for about 80 per cent of some 2,000 reported crimes annually in the Galway West division, which extends from Clifden to Eyrecourt/Portumna.
Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy's brutal death on November 30th brings the number of murders in the city and county since last June to seven.
With just over 300 gardai, the Galway West division is under constant pressure. Attacks on gardai are a weekly occurrence, and incidents associated with late-night city venues are on the increase.
In one of the most vicious cases in Eyre Square last year, a Tipperary man lost his life. His assailants were convicted of violent public disorder. And while attacks on the elderly in rural areas have fallen, the fear of crime is very demanding on stretched resources.
Mr Jarlath Feeney, chief executive of Galway Chamber of Commerce, said there was mounting concern at the violent nature of recent crimes. A dearth of resources to tackle lesser felonies was having an impact on serious crime levels, he said. A rapidly expanding city, at the rate of 2.5 per cent of population a year, required more gardai, and there was also a need for video surveillance in the city area.
There can be 3,000 people on the streets between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., Mr Feeney said. A video surveillance system costing £75,000 to install would give vital evidence in security incidents, and would also have an impact on general behaviour.
Gardai at Mill Street station are still seeking three people who may be able to help with investigations into the murder of Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy.
A second reconstruction broadcast on RTE's Crimeline last Monday night drew an "average" response, according to Supt Tony Finnerty, who is leading the investigation.
The source of a key ring found in Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy's car on the Tuam road has been identified following the programme, but the owner has not. The team is still anxious to talk to two women, one of whom was seen talking to the taxi-driver outside the Dew Drop Inn pub on Mainguard Street, Galway, at about 7 p.m. on the day of the murder.
A woman was also seen walking along the Galway-Tuam road at about 8.30 p.m. A red car which was seen at about 2.30 a.m. with no headlights driving away from Tinker's Lane, Knockdoemore, where the body was located, had still not been identified yesterday.
Supt Finnerty's team, which has now taken more than 900 statements, is still working on the theory that Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy knew her killer. Relatives and friends of the mother of two said she was very careful about the fares she took, and had her own safety precautions. A complicating factor early in the investigation was the fact that her car was interfered with by a group of youths after it had been abandoned.
Supt Finnerty said he would like to talk to taxi-drivers who used the Tuam-Galway road on the night of the murder. This could help to eliminate reported sightings and facilitate the plotting of her precise route.
