I thank the Chair for providing me with an opportunity for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I would have been more grateful had I got the Chair's permission earlier when I raised it and before this became a matter of public comment in the Press. My main reason for raising the matter last week, hoping to be given permission to raise it on the Adjournment, is that for some considerable time I have been getting strong representations — one could say it amounted to pressure — as a result of what was happening. The House will be familiar with the background to this story and will remember that Loughan House was chosen as a place of detention for young people originally. The House will recall that it attracted an amount of ignorant criticism at that time. I had occasion then to point out that that house was a fine building and that its location was one of great beauty, beside Lough Macnean on the Cavan-Fermanagh border. It is an amenity area and a famous place. In fact when John Behan the sculptor was asked to execute a piece of sculpture to commemorate Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Gunna he fell in love with the area and purchased a small house there. Obviously, he was taken, as many people are, by the beauty of an area which contains Lough Macnean, the Glangevlin Gap, the Shannon Pot and so on.
The whole prison experience was in an area of great beauty which up to then was practically crime free. The local people, when Loughan House was first used as a place of detention, set about making it as successful and humane as possible. People whom I know, including a priest who is now in Africa, did their level best to welcome the young people. They organised sports and football matches between groups from outside and those in Loughan House. Generally, they tried by developing a community spirit to help and educate them and make them useful members of society afterwards.
The people feel a bit aggrieved that, despite this effort at togetherness which was the order of the day when the young offenders were in Loughan House, the area is being subjected to very severe pressure from escapees from Loughan House. In all instances I shall mention I do not suppose a definite connection between escapees and the crimes committed can be established in a strictly legal sense but in some instances the connection has been very obviously established.
The presbytery and the church have been broken into. The safe in the church was burst open. There was no money in the safe and the sacred vessels were not touched. The person who entered the church on that occasion did so via a small window and left by the main door. That door was left open. For the most part Blacklion, the nearest village to Loughan House, comes safe. The presbytery is not in the village and, I suppose, those involved understand that there is a large force of gardaí stationed there, a Border area. Those people head in a different direction, further south west towards the villages of Glangevlin and Dowra.
The inmates of Loughan House, and their visitors, are the subject of great concern to the people. I have been asked to stress that particular vigilence must be exercised as far as the visitors to Loughan House are concerned. On the night the church was broken into a car was stolen. The vehicle was later found 120 miles away from Blacklion in the Phoenix Park. Glangevlin dispensary was broken into. On 25 March the presbytery was ransacked and some old coins and a torch taken. The coins were not of any value and some of them were afterwards found in Loughan House. The presbytery was broken into on 21 April and a radio stolen and a cheque book was missing. The radio was later found in Loughan House. On 24 April a window was broken in the church. No entry was made and no further damage was done. However, at that time escapees were at large.
A car was stolen at Swanlinbar which is some distance away. It is difficult to prove these things in a court of law but I am talking about an area which was practically — I could even leave out the adverb — free from crime hitherto. A car stolen in Glangevlin was found damaged near the Phoenix Park. Two bicycles were stolen and one was later found near Swanlinbar. The postman's car was stolen. In Doobally a car was pushed from the owner's premises but was abandoned by the thieves when it was discovered there was no engine in it. The idea was to push the vehicle way from the house so that they would not be heard starting it up. Those involved made a mistake in that instance.
Children have been met by some of the escapees and responsible people in the area are worried about these people being able to converse with children. I must stress that there is a heavy force of gardaí and soldiers in Blacklion. In Dowra, a village on the Leitrim border, a car was stolen and was found in Galway with Loughan House people in it. Again, they seemed to fancy cheque books because together with the car they stole a cheque book from a house. Apparently, they broke into the house, got the key of the car and stole the cheque book.
The result of all this is that the people in the area are frightened for their property. Old people are frightened for their safety. This fear is enhanced by the stories about attacks on old people in the west. Old people in that area must climb the Cuilcagh Mountains to count sheep and they have seen escapees on the mountain. One of the most ridiculous complaints I got — were it not for the fact that escapees were seen in the area nobody would suspect the link — was that an old shelter used by sheep when lambing was vandalised and destroyed. That was a completely mindless and senseless operation.
I believe I have said enough to give the House an idea of what is exercising the minds of the people in that area and what inspired me to ask the Chair to allow me to raise the matter on the Adjournment. I should like to know how many of those escapes were reported to the Minister. What knowledge has the Minister of the escapes? I am sure it will be particularly difficult to trace escapes which enable people to steal objects and bring them back into the prison. It seems to me that until the stolen object was found that was the kind of escape that was hardly recorded. The prison was being made a kind of pied-à-terre for the rogues. Is the Minister fully informed about these matters and will he list in his reply all the escapes that have been notified to him?
The substantive question is what plans has the Minister to deal with security in Loughan House? Is the Minister satisfied with the action he has taken? I saw a report in the paper since I tried to raise the matter in the House, that the Minister had sent for officers from Loughan House. I would like to get the story and I would like the Minister to say what steps have been taken to stop this depredation in a peaceful, quiet and beautiful part of the country. The Minister has an obligation to see to it that there is absolute security in the area, that people are not afraid, whether they are young or old, to go about their business, to sleep peacefully and securely at night, to be confident if they have a motor car that they will be able to continue to use it and that when they go to use it they will not have to fetch it in the Phoenix Park. Until comparatively recently in this part of the country motor cars were seldom locked. Recently I heard the first complaints about two bicycles being stolen from a bicycle shed.
I want an assurance from the Minister on behalf of the people in the area that he is fully aware of what is happening and that he has had consultations with the people who understand security in prisons and that he is seeing to it that security will be maintained and that there is proper liaison between the Loughan House authorities and the Garda so that the Garda will be apprised of the fact that people have escaped as soon as it has happened and that responsible members of the community may also be alerted as to what is happening. I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this matter in the House and I look forward to the Minister's answers.
