The March meeting of Youghal and District Community Alert was held at 11 am in the Red Store on Tuesday March 1st. The attendance was small, possibly reflecting lapse promotion and/or a general satisfaction amongst the populace with the present level of security in the town.

Newly elected Sinn Fein TD Sandra Hennessy attended, as did her party colleague Cllr Michelle Hennessy and Fine Gael Town and County Councillor Barbara Murray. Fine Gael Town Councillor Michael Beecher was present as Chairman of the Community Alert group.  Guest speakers on the occasion were Peter Butler form TASK, a community care organisation that supplies, installs and monitors socially monitored alarms and Desmond Davis of the local Care and Repair service.

Community Garda Peter Queally commenced proceedings with a brief update on the situation regarding socially monitored alarms. He said over 40 applicants were represented in the current funding request to the Department of Community and Gaeltacht Affairs. He also revealed that a Garda representative will give presents talk on drugs at April’s Community Alert meeting. He added that a February presentation to Pobalscoil na Trionoide, at which drugs and drug-related paraphernalia were exhibited, had drawn a very positive response from parents and pupils alike.

Crime figures

Garda Queally then delivered a brief breakdown of crime statistics since the previous Community Alert meeting on February 1st. The figures showed there had been 29 persons stopped and searched for drugs and four premises searched under warrant. Ten persons were found in possession of drugs for personal use and two found in possession with intent to supply. The total street value of drugs seized in Youghal was €3,500, across cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy.

Other statistics included one assault causing harm and one common assault at a house party. As statements were not forthcoming, the gardai were effectively unable to proceed with investigation and/or prosecution. A file had been forwarded to the DPP in respect of a man accused of assault in a licensed premises in January. Two burglaries had been reported. Investigations were ongoing in regard to one burglary, at a holiday home in Cork Hill, in which household appliances were taken. The other burglary, at a licensed premises in which approximately €200 had been stolen, had been solved and a man was in custody.

The garda said there had been seven incidents of public disorder, with six arrests. Reported criminal damage cases amounted to six, with one detection. There were two reported thefts as follows: on February 14th a Lithuanian gang targeted a pharmacy in town. The gang are now in custody and are thought to have committed theft in pharmacies across  Munster over a prolonged period. The garda said they were suspected of using a distraction method to steal items such as perfume from the shelves. They had been in Youghal two months previous but had been recognised on their return. The second theft, on February 21st, invoved he larceny of high-powered, valuable batteries from a road sign in Garryduff.

Scams

The garda warned retailers to be alert to ‘a change scam’ in which foreign nationals –thought to be Romanian- have endeavoured to confuse shop staff with requests to change notes. The procedure is so highly well synchronised and complex that it victims may not realise for some hours that they have been conned. Another scam presently prevalent involves ATM’s, in which a plastic device known as ‘a mousetrap’ prevents the cash from exiting. The criminal removes the device –and the cash- after the mystified card holder departs. The services at Youghal’s TSB and Bank of Ireland had been targeted in recent weeks.

Socially monitored alarms

TASK representative Peter Butler then spoke of his organisation which, he said, was 32 years in business. Mr. Butler said one in three people over 65 suffer a fall per annum, increasing to a one in two chance amongst the over 80’s. Getting to a phone or summoning help could take some time, he surmised.

The speaker then reviewed the availability and functionality of the devices as follows: grant funding for socially monitored alarms is available for anyone of 65 years or over, including more than one such house occupant. They can also be purchased privately –from TASK and other sources- @ €250 (TASK price). An annual maintenance fee of €66 is required in each instance. It is essential that the user has a landline telephone socket in the house.

The base unit, about a foot square, is usually installed in a hallway. The user wears a two-way communication device, usually of a neck pendant or wristwatch design, known as a ‘panic button.’ Pressing the ‘panic button’ opens a two-way communication with the unit’s 24-hour monitoring personnel based in Dublin. On activating the system, the monitors have access to any conversation in progress in the house. Mr Butler outlined how valuable it was to activate the system when answering the door to a stranger, for example. In such instances, if the monitor overhears raised voices or any suspicious evidence, the gardai or a responsible key holder are alerted.

‘Like a man’

The user provides the monitoring station with three phone numbers representing family/house key holders. When the unit is activated, the monitoring operator first responds by voice. If the user does not reply or asks for help, the monitor will alert the key holders in order of preference to summon assistance. Should this prove unsuccessful for any reason, the gardai are summonsed.  In the words of her son, this level of security was memorably described by one elderly woman as “like having a man in the house!”

Mr Butler was keen to emphasise that accidental activation of the units was commonplace, was considered part and parcel of the process and did not inconvenience the monitors. He also advised that users test the device by activating it if and whenever they wished to do so. He further stressed the importance of wearing the pendant/watch at all times, citing incidents where people had failed to do so and had had to wait hours for assistance when unexpected accidents occurred.

Other aspects of the alarm units include 10 year batteries and a facility to warn the householder if the house temperature has fluctuated dangerously. Any number of pendant/watches can be acquired. The signal is operative up to 100 metres and indeed it was noted that an elderly lady who feel in her garden last winter was able to summon assistance that probably saved her life.

Smoke and CO2 alarms

Mr Butler also spoke on other devices, one of which was monitored smoke alarms. These worked similarly fashion to the accident equivalent, except that the monitoring station is automatically alerted when smoke activates the system. It was important, he said, to realise that when we sleep, our sense of smell shuts down, rendering it almost impossible to detect smoke. The service was also valuable when a householder was absent from the premises. These alarms cost €75 but similarly to the other alarm, grant assistance is available through the Seniors Alert Scheme. Mr. utler assured that he criteria of ‘living alone’ was not compromised by regular or overnight visits from family members etc. He advised that smoke alarms not be located in kitchens, where heat detectors are more appropriate.

Also featured were carbon monoxide detectors, which combat what Mr. Butler referred to as “the silent killer.” He said gas, oil and other posed a risk of exposure to carbon monoxide. He described various ways by which to lessen the danger; a) clean chimney, b) have boilers regularly serviced and beware of black deposits, c) ensure house is well ventilated. In this instance there were various levels of exposure –two hours’ exposure of 200 parts CO2 might cause headaches, 400 parts might bring nausea as well whereas 800 parts could cause unconsciousness. The detector sets off a signal once expose surpasses 300 parts. This alarm could be purchased privately for €100 but grant-aid was available for the over 65’s. (In fact all three alarms can be acquired with grant assistance under the Senior Alert programme. Any grant application needs submission of quotes from three distinct companies. The €66 annual maintenance fee covers any or all alarm systems and is not grant-aided) Application forms for all devices are available at Youghal garda station (Tele: 024-92200).

Mr Buler concluded his address with advice on how to minimise risk of falls: i) get eyes tested; ii) makes sure floor space is uncluttered; iii) wear safe shoes and iv) provide adhesive maths in bathroom.

Senior Alert Scheme

The Senior Alert Scheme is a project under which individuals or voluntary groups register for grant aid on behalf of individuals. Other grants provided under the scheme include coverage for outside home security lighting (€120), with dawn-to-dusk systems preferable to the sensor only version that a wandering cat is liable to activate! TASK contact number: (01) 8435889; Peter Butler 086-0568155; net: www.taskltd.com.

Caring and Repairing

In a comparatively brief address, Mr. Desmond Davies, from the Youghal Care and Repair service then spoke to the gathering. The Repair and Care initiative is a burgeoning success story in the Youghal community. It began a few months ago and presently 15 volunteers –including some females- are giving their time and efforts to the project. Mr Davies explained that the workers undertake minor jobs on behalf of the elderly (65+) and/or more vulnerable members of the community. Exemplary chores would include lawn mowing, changing bulbs, tacking carpets, installing locks or hanging curtains.

The householder provides the work materials and the volunteers provide the service free of charge.. “We work in pairs and member is first given garda clearance,” Mr Davies elaborated. The service does not undertake professional type tasks such as plumbing and electrical work and is not intended as an alternative to trades people. The speaker observed that some people preferred to make payment but he stressed than any financial donation “has to be small” while tokens of appreciation such as biscuits or cakes, are no less appreciated

Those wishing to avail of the Care and Repair service are asked to contact Cumann na Daoine on (024) 91900. “Anyone wishing to volunteer their services will be very welcome too,” he concluded.

The next Community Alert meeting is on Tuesday April 5th in the Walter Raleigh Hotel at 7.45 pm.