Crackdown on ‘Concession Road’ racers

Gardaí and the PSNI are continuing to crackdown on complaints of “boy racers” causing disruption to other road users and residents in the area on both sides of the border on the N54/A3 road connecting Cavan and Clones in Co Monaghan.

The PSNI, Monaghan Roads Policing Unit and Clones Gardaí have been involved in a series of checkpoints of late, having mounted their first planned cross-border operation back in August.

The latest has seen patrols along the A3 and N54 “over the last two weekends”, according to a post shared online by a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána in Cavan-Monaghan.

Also known as the Concession Road, the national secondary route is in three sections, separated by two sections in Northern Ireland, on which gardaí have no jurisdiction.

The A3-N54 Clones to Cavan road connects Coleman’s Island, an area consisting of 16 townlands that are part of the Clones Garda Sub-District. Vehicular traffic can only access Coleman’s Island by entering Fermanagh first.

In the past the North-South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat has consulted with a number of Departments and agencies on how best to legislate and agree a co-ordinated approach to deal with local concerns.

Earlier this year rank and file members of An Garda Síochána claimed lives are being put at risk because armed officers are unable to carry their weapons across the Border into Northern Ireland on the Concession Road.

At the annual Garda Representative Association (GRA) conference in Mayo last April, officers called on the Garda Commissioner and Minister for Justice to put in place the necessary protocols to allow them police the area more effectively.