For retired garda chief superintendent Pat Lordan, community policing must be prioritised whether it is on the wild west coast of Ireland or deep in the maze of housing estates in Tallaght, where he spent his formative years as a garda.

Since his retirement two years ago, the west Cork native lives in a remote coastal area of Co Mayo overlooking the ever-changing panorama of the ocean.

Even though walking along the rugged coastline is for pleasure these days, Lordan often reflects on how exposed it is: a wide-open gateway for all sorts of illegal traffickers, subsea cyberattacks and smuggling.

“I’m aware that Coastal Watch has been reintroduced in some areas, but it needs to be operating right along the coast using a co-ordinated approach with all agencies involved and the local guard the link to the local community,” he says.

While starting out in 1986 as a rookie garda in the old station in Tallaght – ironically, now a funeral home – he quickly realised that immersion in a community and familiarity with all age groups is key to effective policing.

“As a result of the work done by a staunch superintendent Bill McMunn, there was a re-emphasis put on community policing,” he says.

“By 1988 I was walking in areas of Tallaght where no guard had walked before, with the young girls and boys calling you by your first name.