‘There are attacks and assaults all the time in town’

A NAVAN publican who had the front window of his pub recently smashed in the latest in an ongoing series of crime and anti-social behaviour incidents the town centre has written to Justice Minister Helen McEntee pleading for more garda resources.

Niall Brennan runs Loughran's Pub on Navan's Trimgate Street and is a grandson of the late Henry Loughran who passed away in 2015.

He told how the front window of the historical pub was smashed in broad daylight the weekend before last adding that drug dealing is openly being carried out around Market Square and assaults and muggings are taking place in the town centre almost every weekend.

He said the 'Metges Lane gang' as he calls them, pour out of the alleys and are just hanging around waiting or a scrap to start.

"In the past week I have seen a woman kicked in the head randomly when she fell in the street by a group of youths who regularly hang out at Metges Lane, the same group of people who regularly mug people and jump into any random fights in the street to sow mayhem. There are increasingly incredibly violent incidents every weekend," he wrote.

"Not long ago our town, was tarred with an incident of violence and hate that gained international attention when filmed and shared virally online. Not long ago in this town, a group of thugs came down on a bus, stabbed a young man, wrecked a car and were filmed being arrested later (a small number of the group). Not long ago in this town, the Gardai themselves were viciously attacked, with one Garda dragged along the ground by her hair. Not long ago in this town, a funeral party ended in a machete and slash-hook fight that the Gardai were almost powerless to stop.

"There are attacks and assaults in town all the time. Too many to list or remember. A customer of mine had a stone thrown at his head last week. A pensioner was mugged by someone two weeks ago. Three guys came out from under a bridge and grabbed a customer of mine from behind only a few months ago. One of my customers had her door kicked in and she had to fight the person out of the flat, waiting two hours for the Gardai to arrive."

Writing to Minister McEntee, Niall said: "I am writing to you today to plead and beg for further actions to be taken to secure the town. We need more. I understand the gardai are desperately understaffed and recruitment and retention is near impossible, but we are watching the disintegration of the social fabric of our town. We are desperate for increased security.

"There are not enough Gardai walking the streets. I mean absolutely no criticism of them though, they are all that stands between us and absolute lawlessness. However, the justice system is serving us very badly."

Niall hasn't had the window repaired yet and explained that because it is historical building with large glass panes, it is a difficult job. He is hoping that the timber frame can be saved but won't know until the glass is taken out.

The afternoon the window was smashed, Niall told how a car pulled up outside the pub and two lads jumped out of the back who were both wearing gloves and balaclavas and had their hoods up. One threw three stones at the window to break it and the other had a tyre iron which he hit the glass with several times.

"It is 130-odd year-old timber. When we replaced part of the glass 20 years ago we were told they might not be able to do it again. If we have to replace the frame, it is a historical facade and will potentially be very costly," said Niall.