Following meetings between senior local garda management and representatives of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), it is understood that requests have been made to garda headquarters for "significant additional manpower." However, no such help has been received.

In addition to the unsuccessful requests, gardai in the area have been pleading with garda commissioner Noel Conroy to improve the condition of the garda station at Clonmel, the rear of which is crumbling badly and has been in decay for several years.

It is understood that on average there are as few as five gardai on patrol in the town at most times due to understaffing. In many cases gardai are sent on lone-patrol duties, a practice which is generally associated with the requirements of large urban areas in Dublin. Clonmel has a population of about 27,000 people.

Last Sunday, Owen Cahill, a 25-year old local man, was killed at a house party at Kilganey outside Clonmel when an armed man burst into the house and shot him in the face.

Local gardai told the Sunday Tribune last week that the fact that this was the second drugrelated murder in the town in several months indicates that there is a growing problem across Tipperary with drugrelated crime.

Last October, 30-year old Fergus Roche was stabbed to death in a house close to where he lived in Clonmel town. The house was then set alight.

Roche's body was later discovered in a badly damaged state by firemen. Roche was a known drug user and minor dealer and his death is believed to have been linked to the drugs trade in the Tipperary town.

An unemployed man was remanded in custody last week, charged with the murder of Owen Cahill. Leigh Crowe (31), Elm Park, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was charged with Cahill's murder at Carrick-on-Suir District Court.