There is growing local concern about anti-social behaviour and the lack of Gardai on the ground in Monnington, Bettystown and Laytown.
This was one of the main messages to emerge at a special public meeting organised by Sinn Fein to discuss the local policing issues at the Village Hotel, Bettystown, on Tuesday night.
A large crowd was in attendance and the party’s Meath East TD Darren O’Rourke and the Drogheda Sinn Fein TD Joanna Byrne were both present.
The party also launched a set of proposals to deal with the current Garda recruitment and retention issues.
The meeting heard that Meath has the lowest number of Gardaí per head of population in the state, a situation that is having a direct impact on community safety.
Deputy O’Rourke said:”The chronic shortage of Gardaí is being felt acutely here in Co. Meath. As one of the fastest-growing counties, we are being left behind when it comes to Garda resources.
” Our communities are being short-changed, with significant shortfalls in vital areas like community policing and roads policing. As of September 2025, there are 318 sworn Gardaí in Co. Meath – the same number as 2018 and just 3 more than 2009, despite a huge population increase. It’s totally unacceptable.
” The government’s failure to get to grips with the recruitment and retention crisis is directly impacting the safety and well-being of people across Co. Meath. We have a situation where large numbers of applicants to An Garda Síochána are not translating into new Gardaí on the beat in our towns and villages.”
He firmly believes that the current training allowance of €354 per week is not adequate, especially for mature applicants with families and financial commitments.
He also demanded the Government incentivise experienced Gardaí to stay in the force.
Mornington Councillor Maria White told the audience that the Sinn Fein proposals are a practical pathway to get more recruits.
She said Sinn Fein is proposing to:
- Increase the Garda training allowance to €579.15 per week (equivalent to the minimum wage) from 2026.
- Increase the maximum capacity per intake at the Garda Training College by 50 to 275 per intake.
- Targeted recruitment in working-class communities.
- Introduce a return to policing grant to incentivise those who have left to re-join.
- Remove points on the Garda pay scale to enable Gardaí to progress faster up the pay scale.
- Introduce an annual long-service payment of €2,500 for all Gardaí who have served 30 years or more.
- Increase the mandatory Garda retirement age to 65
Cllr White added:” We had a full house at our public meeting in Bettystown, which shows the depth of concern in our community about this issue. People are worried about anti-social behaviour and the visibility of Gardaí. They want to see a real plan to fix this.
“We are calling on the government to adopt these common-sense proposals. For Meath to get its fair share of Gardaí, we need to solve the national recruitment and retention crisis. Our communities cannot afford to wait any longer.”
