Warning on garda checkpoints and social media alerts

Those who herald the appearance of a garda checkpoint on social media may watch their backs the next time they take their cars on the road, warned Cllr Frank McDermott.

He was speaking at a Joint Policing Committee meeting in Mullingar last week where the chairperson, Cllr Paddy Hill, complained of this practice.

Cllr Hill said a garda checkpoint “is not up 10 minutes until Mary and Johnny and everyone else” is posting it on social media.

“I want to get it across to those people, those garda checkpoints are there to do what everybody wants, to slow down drivers and perhaps apprehend criminals”, he said. He appealed to people to desist from this practice.

Cllr McDermott said that when he recently saw such posts online, he rang five of the people he knew who had put up the posts and warned them that “the gardaí have an officer in charge of watching Facebook and you better have your car in order the next time you are on the road”.