‘Nobody’s listening’ to farm abuse victims

Michael Olney

A Cork County Councillor has pleaded with gardaí to use their resources to help members of the farming community suffering with domestic abuse.

Speaking at Monday’s Joint Policing Committee meeting, Independent Cllr Frank Roche described the anguish suffered by many of Cork’s farming community as “frightening”.

In an emotional address, the Fermoy councillor asked that garda resources be directed towards those trapped in abusive situations within the farming community.

He said: “What’s upsetting me most of all – there’s about 40 farm suicides every year and it’s frightening what’s going on in the farming community with land disputes.

“Guards need to be trained in this area. I met Drew Harris (Commissioner of An Garda Síochána) twice in the last 12 months, I’ve met Helen McEntee (Minister for Justice) about it.

“We all know what’s going on and it’s sad to think that we can’t get a handle on it,” added Mr Roche.

According to the latest garda figures, reported incidents of domestic abuse were up in Cork city (11%), Cork north (16%), and Cork west (7%) divisions.

Cllr Roche continued: “I sat last Saturday evening in a house and I had two people, parents, that cried – I cried with them and I left that house and I cried the whole way back to my own yard. There’s nobody listening to these people. Is there anything we can do to help them?” he asked.

Responding to Cllr Roche’s plea, Garda Superintendent Michael Corbett said that domestic abuse affects people of all backgrounds.

“An Garda Síochána has made huge inroads into dealing with domestic violence and the victims of domestic violence.

“There are an array of orders in the courts where people can go in and get orders, but in order for that to happen, we need people to come forward.

“We would encourage anybody that is the victim of domestic violence or has issues within the family, whether it is land disputes or regardless of what dispute it is, if they come forward, help is available. Unless someone tells us about it, we can’t act,” he concluded.