FARMING organisations met the Minister for Justice yesterday to press for the reopening of village Garda stations and the use of home security electronics to combat the rise in rural crime.
The IFA and the ICMSA told Ms Owen that the recent spate of vicious attacks on old people had seriously undermined the sense of security of rural Ireland. They warned of a "crisis of confidence" in the community in the Garda's ability to respond to the upsurge in crime.
The two organisations want panic buttons and security telephones which can pick up and relay noises made by intruders to be installed in the homes of the most vulnerable of the 50,000 people living alone in rural Ireland. The cost of installing such equipment in 40 per cent of these homes would be about £50 million.
The ICMSA described the two hour meeting as "very positive".
Its president, Mr Frank Allen, said that Ms Owen was not prepared to reopen Garda stations but expressed an interest in proposals for more mobile Garda patrols. Improved communications technology could be introduced to direct 999 calls directly to these patrols.
"The closure of the village Garda barracks and the removal of a Garda presence from the countryside is the major factor contributing to rural crime," Mr Allen said.
The IFA called for the introduction of cashless transactions between banks, post offices, credit unions and marts to minimise the amount of cash farmers keep at home. It also wants a support service to help local communities to organise community alert schemes, and says it will launch a campaign with the Garda to highlight the dangers facing rural communities and the steps that need to be taken to ensure their safety.
"The rural community itself more than willing to grasp the self help approach, so long as policies on rural policing by the Garda are being effectively implemented. Calm analysis and clear thinking must be the approach to tackling the increase in vicious forms of crime which are clearly drug driven," said Ms Joan Fitzpatrick, chairwoman of the IFA's national farm family committee.
"Panic buttons" are already used on a small scale by the health boards for patients with serious health problems. The farming organisations now want their use extended to old people living alone, who could alert neighbours living up to four miles away in eases of break ins.
Ms Owen said that rural crime had been rising since 1983. The rate of increase slowed down last year, but the proportion of vicious and violent attacks increased. The introduction of community alert schemes in four areas led to a reduction of about 20 per cent in crime levels.
Mr Dan McCarthy of the ICMSA's rural development committee said there was widespread support for measures such as birching or calling in the Army to deal with crime. These are unrealistic proposals, but they carry a serious message they're born out of the frustration of people about the levels of crime they see in their neighbourhood."
