Press release
Minister McEntee extends work of successful Drogheda Implementation Board for another year
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has announced her intention to extend the term of the Drogheda Implementation Board for another year.
The Board was established to oversee the implementation of the report ‘Drogheda: Building a Bridge to a Better Future’. and is an example of how the government is prioritising building stronger, safer communities.
The extension of the Board’s term will allow it to maintain the positive momentum already built to improve community safety in Drogheda and strengthening co-operation between State agencies in the town and surrounding areas.
The extension of the term of the Drogheda Implementation Board will see it run until September 2024, when the new Louth Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) will be established. The LCSP will then bring forward the work of the Drogheda Implementation Board.
Local Community Safety Partnerships will be established around the country following the planned enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023.
The Drogheda Implementation Board was originally established in October 2021 for a 24 month period as the core driver and implementer of the Drogheda Community Safety and WellBeing Scoping Report’s recommendations.
Since its establishment, it has delivered on and overseen a number of positive developments for Drogheda including:
Minister McEntee said:
“The Drogheda Implementation Board has been successful in building a stronger, safer community in Drogheda. It has driven improvements in Drogheda that have a real impact on peoples lives.
"This includes key support workers for those caught up in offending behaviours and drug use, educational resources for early-school leavers, trauma counselling for primary school children who most need it and a major electrical apprenticeship programme that will provide permanent jobs and boost educational opportunities in Drogheda.
"We have also invested money from my Community Safety Innovation Fund, which re-invests the proceeds of crime in communities, in projects in Drogheda.
“And I also secured an additional €100,000 worth of funding on behalf of the Drogheda Implementation Board in Budget 2023, which has been allocated to a new small grants fund for community organisations in the Drogheda area.
"Improving co-operation between State agencies has also been key to ensuring that we can deliver the services needed for Drogheda, and this has been at the heart of the work of the Drogheda Implementation Board.
"I am now pleased to allow the Board to continue its work until the establishment of a Local Community Safety Partnership for Louth in 2024, following the planned enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.
"This will ensure the positive momentum built on improving community safety and wellbeing in Drogheda is not lost, and will ensure the continued implementation of the medium and longer term actions for Drogheda which are so important for the town.”
Minister McEntee is currently progressing the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill in the Oireachtas. The Bill sets out a new approach to community safety in Ireland.
The Bill will embed the principle that preventing crime and improving community safety is not just the responsibility of An Garda Síochána, but of a range of departments and agencies across Government including health and social services, education and local authorities as well as the wider community working together to prioritise and support the overall objective of safer communities.
The Local Community Safety Partnerships, which have been piloted in Dublin’s North Inner City, Waterford and Longford, will be established in each local authority area in due course. They will collectively produce and implement a Local Community Safety Plan tailored to the specific demographic needs of each area.
Minister McEntee continued:
"The Drogheda Board, and the pilot Local Community Safety Partnerships, have demonstrated the real benefit and necessity of cooperation and collaboration between statutory agencies and the community itself in improving community safety.
"The entire premise of our new community safety policy is that imposing a singular approach from the centre to different communities with different needs cannot be effective. We not only need to listen to the people on the ground, but we need to empower them – to come to the table, to share their experience and to play their part in making their community safer and stronger.
"I look forward to the establishment of the Louth LCSP and other LCSPs next year following enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.”
Its term has now been extended to September 2024, before which it is intended it will be dissolved to allow the new Local Community Safety Partnership to take forward its work.
Further information on the Drogheda Implementation Board can be found on the Drogheda Implementation Board website and in the Department of Justice’s original press release about the Board: Government to put “special focus” on Drogheda as Minister Humphreys launches Drogheda Implementation Plan.
The Drogheda Implementation Board, which is resourced by the Department of Justice, is supported and hosted by the Louth Meath Education and Training Board and comprises an independent Chair (Michael Keogh) and 16 members from relevant agencies and the local community.
The Board’s day to day work is supported by a full time coordinator, Gráinne Berrill.
The ‘Drogheda: Building a Bridge to a Better Future’ report arises from a scoping exercise undertaken by Mr Vivian Geiran, a former director of the Probation Service, at the request of Minister Helen McEntee in 2020. A copy of the report, which was published on 26 March 2021, is available at: Scoping Report into Community Safety and Wellbeing in Drogheda.
In addition to an overarching recommendation for the establishment of a coordination structure to improve community safety and wellbeing in Drogheda, the other recommendations in the report cover areas related to: drug use; youth and community development facilities; services for children and young people; education and training; arts, culture, sport and recreation, local authority organisation and services; local infrastructure and assets; employment, enterprise and development; and ethnic and racial issues.
It is intended that the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will be enacted by the end of 2023. Local Community Safety Partnerships will be established across the country over the course of 2024, informed by the experience of the pilot LCSPs in Waterford, Dublin’s North Inner City and Longford.
The Drogheda Implementation Plan outlines 73 actions and is reviewed on a quarterly basis, with a progress report published biannually.
The most recent update identified a number of positive developments including, but not limited to:
- A Prison Link Worker – situated within the Red Door Project for 2 years
- The New Choices Project – the project, run by Foroige, is an individualised alternative learning programme for young people aged 13-16 who have dropped out of the school system