A long standing and highly respected member of An Garda Síochána has taken up the role of superintendent in Co Cavan in recent weeks.
Killeshandra native, Superintendent Gavin O'Reilly has replaced Superintendent John Callanan in the job who himself has taken over the responsibility for the Louth/Cavan/Monaghan Crime Functional Area.
Mr O'Reilly who has been a member of An Garda Síochána for 21 years says, "the focus of the force is all about community policing, community engagement and in turn keeping people safe."
He said his message was very clear in terms of the leadership role that he holds within An Garda Síochána in Cavan adding, "it's about the communities we serve, it's about getting out there, being visible, engaging and having an impact".
The newly appointed Superintendent in Cavan said when he says impact that doesn't always mean statistics and data and arrests and prosecutions. "It's about the relationships, it's about trust and confidence. It's about visibility. It's about keeping people safe, but more importantly, it's about people feeling safe and having confidence in the force".
Superintendent O'Reilly says a role within the force isn't just a job but a vocation and he says while the new role is a challenge, it's a challenge that he is relishing.
The Co Cavan native spent many years on the beat in the inner city of Dublin as a community Garda and says, " for myself and for An Garda Síochána under the leadership of Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly the focus is all about community policing, community engagement and getting back to keeping people safe and the feeling of being safe and community is very much front and centered when it comes to our ethos".
Superintendent O'Reilly says, "with 17 stations across the county of Cavan its about ensuring that we are externally looking in terms of working in partnership with the community and various community statutory, non statutory and voluntary bodies, so that we can deliver a better policing service for the people of Cavan".
He says the fear of crime in rural communities can be greater than the actual incidence of crime. “It's up to us to reaffirm and to communicate, to be visible and to in-still confidence in people when it comes to the fear of crime being greater than the actual incidence of crime.”
When it comes to domestic violence, Supt O’Reilly said, “Covid was a big game changer in respect of domestic violence and we've established Protective Services units right across the country, 21 dedicated teams across 21 divisions. Every county has dedicated detective that are trained and equipped to deal with domestic violence. We have new legislation called Coco's law and we have new domestic order legislation.
”So we are here to assist anybody who has any issues around domestic abuse, or indeed any child protection issues that may come hand in hand with a statistic that is very worrying for me which is before somebody lifts the phone to call the guards for help, there will be 39 previous incidents. So it's about having confidence that we have people trained, we have people experienced, and we have people specialising in this area of domestic violence and child protection. We just recently established a new Tusla Child Protection coordination unit here in Cavan, with one sergeant and two Garda members.”
Road safety is a major issue for all members of An Garda Síochána. Superintendent O’Reilly says we have an extensive and expansive road network in Cavan, rural roads and urban roads.
”We're just asking people to slow down, reduce their speed limit by 5kms per hour that will have a big impact. Never drive and use your mobile phone. Do not drink and drive. Do not take drugs, but do not take drugs and drive, you're endangering your life, not just your life and your passengers lives, but you're endangering the general public and road users.
“So we're asking people just to slow down a little bit. Pay more attention to the road, because the roads are very, very busy. Greater volumes of traffic, greater volumes of speed. Cars are more capable of going faster, quicker, and we're asking people just to be conscious.
“57 people have died on Irish roads to date this year. That's 57 families, 57 communities that have gone to the graveyard, and you know that has a big impact on families, a devastating impact. So we're asking people just to be more careful, to be more considerate. Slow down and pull in if you have to, if you're feeling tired, never drink and drive. Do not take drugs and drive. And just if we all just do a little bit more when it comes to driving with extra care then that would be my message.”
