They are already making an impact THEY may patrol the streets of Limerick wearing casual blue uniforms but they're not to be confused with the garda�. They have no enforcement powers, nor do they want them, preferring instead to build up trust within the community and maintain a friendly presence. They are Limerick's community coordinators - the country's first - introduced to help solve a range of social problems. And should this Euro1m, twoyear pilot project be successful, community coordinators may soon be coming to a street corner near you.

On the beat in Limerick for the past six weeks, the eight newlyappointed recruits have already made an impact. Patrolling the northside of the city, they came across a man with a noticeable limp from arthritis in his feet.

After having a chat with him, they looked into his entitlements and discovered that an unclaimed Euro50a-week disability benefit was available to him. The coordinators also guessed the man would benefit from a handrail being installed in his home and put him in touch with the relevant authority.

The Sunday Tribune joined them on a walk through Janesboro recently, visiting an elderly man whom the coordinators had been told was living in relative isolation.

"Thanks for calling in, " he tells them. "There's been a bit of a problem in the past with kids lighting fires in the back field and my hedge has caught fire. It's good to know you'll be around the place."

And off they go, having given the man a leaflet with their number, to continue their stroll. The next problem on their list is a rat-infestation in the back gardens of a row of houses in Janesboro.

"People were dumping their rubbish in the back garden and that attracted the rats, " says coordinator Daniel Butler, a native of Limerick. "We contacted the environmental officers and they found the names and addresses from letters in the dumped rubbish and those people will now be fined."

Another issue raised by residents of Janesboro is that the church car park, beside a grassy area where children play, is being used by youths in cars to pull spins at high speed.

"Various people we've met walking around pointed out how dangerous it is because of the kids playing here, " says coordinator Yvonne McMahon, "so we're looking into getting a barricade around the car park."

After just a few weeks on the beat, they've met hundreds of people. They work closely with community groups as well as patrolling Janesboro, Rosbrien and Kennedy Park on the southside and Killeely, Watergate, St John's Square and Thomondgate - where a man was shot dead three weeks ago - on the northside. But they're keeping well clear of Moyross and Southill, Limerick's most notorious areas for crime and disorder.

"We sat down with garda� at the beginning and they advised us what areas we should work in and where we shouldn't, " says Rob Lowth, project manager of the scheme at Limerick city council.

"We're in areas that have issues, but not the worst areas."

Another reason the community coordinators are avoiding Moyross is because of the massive regeneration currently under way there, involving the demolition of 1,000 houses.

A quick drive through Moyross and Southill indicates clearly deprived areas with visible social problems. Burnt-out and abandoned houses have become illegal dumping sites. But in the middle of Southill in late afternoon, familiar music can be heard from an ice-cream van selling its wares.

"An ice-cream van wouldn't come somewhere that's too dangerous now, would it?" asks Lowth.

Ann-Marie Hogan, team leader, agrees. "Ideally, we'd like to be everywhere but there are only eight of us at the moment - after two years, hopefully, community coordinators will be everywhere."

The initiative is jointly run by the Health Service Executive (HSE), Limerick city council and the garda�. It has been adapted from the British street-warden model after members of the council travelled to see it in action.

The Irish recruits were trained by British experts before taking to the streets.

The chief inspector of An Garda S�och�na, Kathleen O'Toole, last week praised communities working together with the garda� to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Limerick's eight community coordinators, mostly from the city and in their 20s and early 30s, were selected from over 200 applicants. They come from diverse educational backgrounds but were chosen for their desire to affect social issues positively at grassroots level.

At first they wore black combat trousers but soon swapped them for jeans (they looked too like garda�) and prefer their new casual, approachable look. Driving through the city in their branded white van, people are beginning to recognise them and wave.

"In the UK, street wardens can fine people for littering and other things but we didn't want that. If it was a case of more enforcement powers, there should really just be more garda�, " says Hogan. "What we're trying to do is put community spirit back on the map."