Effort to defuse town immigration tension

Public meeting due to worries about anti-social behaviour

- BY JOHN KIERANS

A NEW effort will be made this week to defuse tensions in a rural Irish town.

Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan is riddled with unease, fear and anger following a large influx of refugees and members of the Roma community over the past several years.

The sight of a man walking down the main street with a knife last Sunday sent shockwaves across the quiet rural spot, comic Oliver Callan's hometown.

The man was arrested and charged within 24 hours but it left many terrified that the market town is being destroyed by anti-social behaviour and the lack of a visible Garda presence.

A public meeting organised by Sinn Fein TD Matt Carthy will be held in the Shirley Park Hotel tomorrow at 7.30pm.

There were 389 crimes committed in Carrickmacross last year compared to 500 in 2019. They were largely public order offences, burglaries, assaults, thefts and criminal damage.

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