PARTNERS & PROJECTS (8)
In this interview, EUNWA speaks with Rosie Palmer CEO of Muintir na Tíre, the Irish organisation behind the Community Alert programme. The conversation explores Ireland’s distinctive trilateral model, built on cooperation between local communities, Muintir na Tíre and An Garda Síochána, and highlights how rural safety is strengthened not only through crime prevention, but also through care, neighbourliness and social connection.
From practical farm security and community signage to digital innovation through the Cairde app, the interview offers valuable insights into how trusted local networks can make communities more resilient. It also underlines a principle that is central to EUNWA’s mission across Europe: safer communities are built through trust, participation and collective action.
Rosie, Ireland's Community Alert operates on a unique trilateral partnership between the community, Muintir na Tíre, and An Garda Síochána. How do you maintain the balance between being a grassroots, independent organisation and working so closely with the national police?
Muintir na Tíre was founded on the fundamental community development principles of self-help, self-reliance and neighbourliness, and our work continues to remain true to those. Our role today in the delivery of Community Alert demonstrates our ethos’ in how we support communities to identify their own needs and empower them to build safer, more caring and connected communities where people want to live, work, socialise and grow old in.
We recognise, however, that fundamental to the success of Community Alert is the high trust relationship between our police service and the general public. Having a programme, like Community Alert, creates another opportunity for that trusting relationship to be sustained and grown. Additionally, many of our police service in rural Ireland are also the very community people that promote community safety at a local level. For example, many retired Gardaí become Community Alert leaders or take up Community Development roles or volunteer positions within their communities e.g. coaching sports teams.
Of note are the recent changes taking place in our models of Community Policing including the establishment of the Policing & Community Safety Authority Ireland.
The foundation of NOCS: The National Office for Community Safety also marked a change in the traditional idea of “policing”. For many years, at a Local Authority level, the “Joint Policing Committees” created a ‘them and us’ model with regards to crime prevention and community safety. However, NOCS has recently replaced these with LCSPs: ‘Local Community Safety Partnerships’, which have shifted the responsibility away from solely the Gardaí and onto everyone in the community. Muintir Na Tire has representatives sitting on over 20 LCSPs.
Our trilateral partnership works because our communities provide local knowledge, Muintir na Tíre provides the national structure and support and An Garda Síochána provides professional policing expertise. And each partner recognises that none of us can achieve the same outcomes alone. By maintaining clear roles and ensuring that each partner understands and respects the role of the others, while working collaboratively, we have created a model that has endured for more than forty years and continues to earn the trust of communities across Ireland.
Community Alert was never designed to be an extension of policing or with the intention to replace policing. Rather, it was established to empower communities to take an active role in their own safety while having a system where they can officially and efficiently work with us and the Gardaí.
From a Community Development perspective, our starting point is always the needs and priorities identified by local people themselves. Community Alert groups are run by volunteers who understand the unique circumstances of their own areas. They decide what issues are most important locally, whether that is crime prevention, supporting older people, tackling isolation, improving communication or responding to emerging challenges, or indeed a combination of all of these.
Ultimately, the partnership works because there is a shared objective but different responsibilities.
Unlike many traditional Neighbourhood Watch schemes, Community Alert places a huge emphasis on social care, such as visiting older neighbours and the Seniors Alert Scheme. Why do you believe this holistic approach is so vital for true rural safety?
In Muintir, we believe that “safety” is about much more than preventing crime and, as such, approach the delivery of Community Alert as a three-part programme: Crime Prevention, Community Safety and Care.
Ireland currently reports the highest levels of loneliness in Europe: The Loneliest Nation in Europe? Ireland as a Case Study, and Implications for Policy - Public Policy. We recognise that the experience of loneliness and associated isolation can be just as damaging as being a victim of criminal activity. A person who is disconnected from their neighbours is often more vulnerable to scams, theft and poor health outcomes.
Initiatives such as the Seniors Alert Scheme: Seniors Alert Scheme Pobal | SAS | Personal Alarms for the Elderly Ireland, our pilot “Community Support Register” project: Muintir na Tíre Community Support Register - YouTube demonstrate the desire for our groups to do more outside of the traditional “crime prevention” role.
In our view, the safest communities are not necessarily those that are heavily policed, or the ones with locked gates and high fences. Rather, they are the communities with the strongest relationships and with neighbourliness to the fore. When people are connected and cared for, they become more resilient to all kinds of challenges.
Muintir Na Tíre sits on the Loneliness Taskforce Loneliness Taskforce 2024 political briefing - and in 2026 we plan to initiate an Oireachtas Committee (Parliamentary Committee) on Loneliness and launch Ireland’s first Loneliness Strategy.
Our research shows that opportunistic burglars generally choose the path of least resistance; they do not want to work hard or waste time. We advocate for a 'layered defence'—multiple minor obstacles rather than a single fortress wall. How does Muintir na Tíre advise rural residents, particularly farmers with open land and outbuildings, to implement practical, layered security without compromising their daily operations?
Yes – Rural crime is generally opportunity crime, and we actively teach the 10 principles of crime prevention to our Community Alert groups.
In order to grow our knowledge on Crime Prevention measures, our team undertook Crime Prevention for Practitioners training in 2025 delivered by Build Secure and certified by GBS: Short certificate courses in Ireland | Galway Business School – this involved learning about the 10 principles of crime prevention and how to visually audit an area; town, village, community space, from the point of view of security and crime prevention and make recommendations for changing the space.
This training encouraged us to apply to the Department of Agriculture to avail of their Farm Safety Funding to devise a series of farm walks and a practical guide to empower farmers and farm families to assess and improve their on-farm security. Details of the initiative and the booklet can be found here: Your Farm Security Handbook - Muintir Na Tire. We recognise that farmers are generally time poor and reluctant to invest in their on-farm security (unless they had been a victim of crime) and therefore, the aim of this project was to identify free or cheap ways for farmers to improve security that would not take too much time.
Our Property Branding service is also attractive to farmers and rural dwellers, and we undertake this in Farm Yards, Marts and local villages regularly. We use a state-of-the-art laser branding machine to brand expensive property from phones to trailers with the owner's Driving Licence number which acts as a deterrent to would-be thieves in the first instance and improves the chance of reunification if recovered by Gardaí. A member of the Gardaí can identify any citizen from their driver’s licence number using their mobility device.
Muintir Na Tíre has also been successful in accessing the Department of Justice Community Safety Fund to research and develop a “Community Safety Toolkit” – a suite of training aimed at training community safety champions across the country. Champions will be empowered to assess and identify community safety needs and enable their communities to become safer. We have recently hired a retired Garda Sergeant with over 30 years’ experience in Community Policing and expertise in the emerging area of CPTED - Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, to deliver this project.
Muintir Na Tíre is one of the founding members of the National Rural Safety Forum and together with other partners, we launched the 2025/2027 Rural Safety Plan in September 2025. Under the pillars of Community Safety & Engagement, Property Crime, Roads Policing and Animal & Wildlife Crime, member organisations of the Forum and relevant stakeholders have committed to 18 actions which will be achieved through 53 sub-actions.
Criminological reviews highlight that visible signs of an alert community—such as targeted signage or active WhatsApp networks—act as massive cognitive disruptors for offenders, forcing them to abandon their target. In isolated rural areas, where neighbours might be miles apart, what specific environmental signals or visible deterrents have proven most effective in communicating to a burglar that the area is actively protected?
We know from crime prevention principles that a maintained garden or tended to hedge can act as a crime deterrent because it shows that someone is looking after where they live. Likewise, we believe one of the most powerful messages a community can send is showing that people are paying attention, they are looking after their area and they care.
Our signage remains highly effective because it immediately signals that residents are connected to a wider network and maintain regular communication with each other and with An Garda Síochána. Equally important are active local communication systems, whether through text alerts or our Cairde app which allows real time communication.
In rural areas, where houses may be separated by considerable distances, offenders often assume they can operate unnoticed. Visible signs of community organisation challenge that assumption. They create uncertainty for the offender and increase the perceived risk of being observed, identified, or reported.
Our Property Branding and signage service, as mentioned above, also acts as a visible deterrent.
Where our Community Alert programme is operational, the message is simple: this community knows what is happening, shares information quickly and looks out for one another.
Muintir na Tíre has driven significant technological innovation with the launch of the 'Cairde' app. How have you managed the challenge of introducing digital tools to rural demographics, ensuring that older or vulnerable residents are not left behind?
I believe that in this apparent age of “connectedness” we have, in fact, never been more disconnected from each other.
When developing the Cairde app, we recognised that our communities include people with varying levels of digital confidence. Therefore, we focused on:
- Simplicity – no action should take more than 3 button presses, and our portal is user-friendly.
- Accessibility – we promote the use of the app to anyone with a smartphone; however, we will always continue to provide the text alert service to those who do not have one.
- Training – we provide 1:1 training on the app and have recruited youth volunteers (Foróige) to engage with older people to assist them in downloading and utilising the app.
We worked closely with volunteers, local coordinators and community groups to ensure the technology was easy to use and supported by people on the ground.
Importantly, we do not view digital tools as a replacement for traditional communication methods: the app complements existing community networks rather than replacing them.
The goal is to ensure that everyone benefits from faster communication and better access to information, regardless of age or technical ability.
Across Europe, we are mapping the impact of highly mobile, organised criminal groups (sometimes referred to as 'criminal tourism') that target specific areas rapidly before moving on. Does rural Ireland experience this phenomenon of fast-moving, non-localised theft, and how does the rapid communication within your network, perhaps aided by the Cairde app, help authorities intercept them?
Ireland is small and easily traversable and, as such, is susceptible to incidents involving highly mobile offenders who target particular areas and move quickly between locations. This presents a significant challenge because traditional geographic boundaries become less relevant.
The greatest strength of Community Alert is the speed at which information can travel through trusted networks. When suspicious activity is observed and reported promptly, communities can alert one another and share information with An Garda Síochána in real time.
Tools such as the Cairde app strengthen this capability by enabling timely and accurate communication and the recording of live locations, while ensuring that information is shared responsibly.
The quicker communities and law enforcement can build a picture of emerging activity, the greater the opportunity to prevent further incidents and support investigations.
One such example of “travelling” crime relates to the illegal hunting of the protected Hare in Ireland. We recently embarked on a project, working with all those affected to tackle this scourge across rural Ireland and identified a multi-stakeholder plan to tackle such practices.
With over 1,250 active groups across the country, volunteer retention is clearly one of your strengths. In an era where many civic associations suffer from 'volunteer fatigue', what is your secret to keeping local communities engaged over the long term?
In truth, the numbers of Community Alert groups have declined since Covid, and the impact is still being felt. Since coming on board with Muintir I’ve been working with our 5 Community Alert Development Officers (CADOs) to put in place a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) list of all Community Alert groups across the country. Red meaning dormant or disbanded, Amber needing support and Green doing well. This has helped us to identify those groups who need support most and allowed us to best allocate resources among those groups.
Our network of CADOs and head office support function is fundamental to the success of Community Alert and how we keep groups engaged. Having someone groups can call for support, information and advice is crucial for our volunteers.
People remain involved when they can see that their efforts make a genuine difference to their community. Community Alert volunteers regularly witness the positive outcomes of their work, whether that is helping an older neighbour feel safer, organising a local initiative or contributing to crime prevention efforts.
We also recognise that volunteering has changed. I like to think of the Elizabeth Andrew quote: “Volunteers don’t necessarily have the time, but they do have the heart” – We recognise that volunteers may have less time available than previous generations, so flexibility and support are increasingly important. Our role is to provide volunteers with practical resources, training, recognition and opportunities to contribute in ways that suit their circumstances.
We’ve recently started a project to collect information about volunteer work being done by community groups so we can share information on what works well for our groups - Community Group Projects & Activities - Muintir Na Tire
Above all, we recognise that the success of Community Alert is in its ownership by the community. Volunteers are not delivering for an unknown entity - they are strengthening their own community.
As Muintir na Tíre connects with the EUNWA network, what is the main lesson or best practice that you believe the rest of Europe can learn from the Irish rural model? And conversely, what are you hoping to discover from other European nations?
The greatest strength of Community Alert is the same as Muintir’s founding ethos’: self-help, self-reliance and neighbourliness. Community safety is most effective when local people are active participants rather than passive recipients of services.
Ireland’s experience demonstrates that strong partnerships between communities, voluntary organisations and the police service have, over decades, produced sustainable outcomes.
The integration of crime prevention, community safety and care is something we are particularly proud of. Additionally, our Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice serves to cement the partnership with An Garda Síochána.
At the same time, there is much we can, and have learned from our European colleagues. Our involvement in the European network is an opportunity to share experiences, learn from one another and strengthen community safety across Europe.
While our communities may differ, the fundamental principle remains the same: safer communities are built through trust, participation and collective action.
We are grateful to Rosie Palmer and Muintir na Tíre for this valuable conversation and for offering such a clear and inspiring example of how community safety can be strengthened through trust, care, participation and partnership.
As part of our commitment to highlighting the voices shaping community safety across Europe, EUNWA is delighted to share this conversation with Henrik Põder, the newly appointed CEO of the Estonian Neighbourhood Watch (ENWA). Taking the helm at a pivotal moment for regional security, Henrik brings a wealth of experience to an organisation currently navigating a profound strategic transition. In this interview, he discusses the evolving nature of civic responsibility, the changing threat landscape, and what it means to build genuine, grassroots resilience in the modern era.
Henrik, you have recently taken on the leadership of the Estonian Neighbourhood Watch at an important moment. Could you briefly tell us about your background and what motivated you to step into this role?
The traditional role of Neighbourhood Watch which is observing, sharing information, and supporting local safety, will remain valid. But on its own, it is no longer sufficient.
What has changed is not only the risk environment, but the nature of disruption. Crises today are more complex, less predictable, and often felt first at the community level. This shifts the focus from prevention to preparedness, and from awareness to capability.
For Estonia, this is not an abstract discussion. As a small country with a specific security environment, we have learned — both from our own history and from developments in Ukraine — that resilience ultimately depends on the readiness of individuals, families, and the communities they belong to. Modern conflict does not only target infrastructure; it also seeks to weaken the will and coherence of society.
War is no longer something that happens only between armies. Civilians, infrastructure, and everyday life are directly affected. Already in 1921, Giulio Douhet wrote that “the command of the air means striking the enemy’s will through their cities and civilians.” Today we see the same logic applied in Ukraine — not only through missiles, but also through disinformation, cyber attacks, and disruption of daily life.
This means that resilience is no longer a military concept alone. It starts from the individual, the family, and the immediate community. If these layers are weak, the whole system becomes fragile.
In that context, preparedness cannot remain theoretical or anonymous. It has to be grounded in real, defined communities — groups of people who know each other, have agreed to take responsibility, and understand their role. This is an important distinction, because there is a difference between a general “community” and a functioning group that has actually committed to act together.
In practical terms, this means moving from passive participation to defined roles within a community. Not everyone needs to be highly trained, but enough people need to know what to do, who to rely on, and how to act in the first phase of a disruption. That initial period, before systems stabilise, is where community-level readiness becomes critical.
Neighbourhood Watch already has something that is difficult to build from scratch — a network of defined communities. The challenge now is to give that network structure, purpose, and a realistic function within a wider system.
From our perspective, this is not only about exchange, but about building a more structured understanding of what community-level preparedness actually means in practice. Estonia is already working through these questions in a very concrete way, and we are open to working with partners who want to learn, test, and develop these approaches further together.
How are Estonian citizens responding to this evolving vision? Are you seeing growing interest in participation, and what do you think motivates people to get involved today?
Not everyone would need to be highly trained, but enough people would have basic capability — at the level of the individual, the family, and the sector — so that the community remains functional under pressure. This has a clear systemic impact. When people are prepared and able to cope initially on their own, the load on national systems is reduced, allowing institutions to focus on those who genuinely need immediate assistance.
In that sense, the value of a functioning sector is not only local, but national. It becomes part of the overall resilience of the country, even if it operates at a very small scale.
To reach that point, the key question is not only development, but integration. Community-level readiness needs to be recognised as a legitimate part of the wider system, not as an isolated or voluntary activity. This also means finding practical ways to move through existing administrative and structural barriers, so that bottom-up initiatives can develop in alignment with national priorities.
If done correctly, this does not create parallel structures. It strengthens what already exists by ensuring that preparedness starts where it actually matters — with people, their immediate surroundings, and the groups they trust.
What we are seeing in Estonia is not unique, but it may be becoming visible here earlier. Many countries are facing a similar gap between national-level strategies and what actually happens at neighbourhood level. The role of organisations like Neighbourhood Watch is to help close that gap in a way that is practical, scalable, and grounded in real communities.
Over time, this also points to a need for closer cooperation between sectors and countries — not only to share information, but to develop and compare working methods as these approaches evolve. In this context, networks like EUNWA can play an important role in connecting these efforts.
At the same time, we believe there is clear value in learning from practical, real-world implementations. Estonia is actively developing and testing this approach, and we see ourselves as a practical environment where these ideas can be observed, adapted, and further developed together with partners who are interested in building this next layer of community-level preparedness.
We would like to thank Henrik Põder for his time and for sharing his valuable insights with the EUNWA community. We wish him and the entire Estonian Neighbourhood Watch team the very best in this exciting new chapter.
The 28th German Prevention Congress, including the 16th Annual International Forum (AIF), is a significant global event organized by the German Congress on Crime Prevention (Deutscher Präventionstag).
It takes place on June 12 and 13, 2023, and attracts participants from various countries, fostering a global dialogue on prevention and safety. The event's mission is to address pressing issues related to prevention, safety, and well-being, and it plays a crucial role in shaping strategies and initiatives that safeguard communities and build resilient societies.
The International Prevention Day serves as a remarkable platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and sharing insights, best practices, and innovative approaches. It promotes international cooperation, allowing countries to learn from one another and address common issues.
The event features a comprehensive program with keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities where renowned experts and practitioners share their insights, research findings, and successful strategies. It focuses on specific themes and topics of global relevance, such as crime prevention, community safety, public health, environmental protection, cybercrime, social cohesion, and more. By exploring these themes and interconnected topics, the event provides participants with valuable insights and practical tools for effective prevention strategies.
The event adopts a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating diverse disciplines, and serves as a hub for knowledge sharing, capacity building, policy development, and advocacy. It acts as a catalyst for positive change, driving global collaboration and fostering a network of prevention experts committed to improving well-being worldwide.
Through international collaborations and partnerships, participants can connect, share expertise, and initiate joint research projects and initiatives. The event transcends borders, promoting cross-cultural understanding and the adaptation of successful prevention models. It fuels progress in public health and safety, celebrating achievements, inspiring innovation, and implementing effective strategies.
By connecting experts, stakeholders, and nations, the International Prevention Day shapes the prevention landscape and creates a healthier, more secure, and inclusive world for future generations.
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Welcome to the Cutting Crime Impact (CCI) project, this project will enable a preventative, evidence-based and sustainable approach to tackling high-impact petty crime. (Visit project web site)
European Commission Internal Security fund project implemented by the State Police of Latvia was and is trying to tackle one of the biggest security problems of the 21st century - cybercrime.
The Vice–President of EUNWA Dr. Georgios Leventakis (Policy and Innovation Advisor) participated at the 2018 Security Research Event (SRE 2018), which jointly organized by the European Commission and the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology. The event took place on 5th and 6th of December in Brussels at the Square Meeting Centre1.
On December 5th and 6th, 2018, a conference organized by the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN), on “Best Practice in Community Policing in Europe”, was held at the "Austria Center" in Vienna. During the conference, which took place in the context of the activities of the Austrian semester of Presidency of EU Council, 20 projects were submitted by the representatives of the countries participating to the network, related to the application of the community policing in their communities.
The INSPEC2T awareness games are being further optimised to increase engagement and enhance their content. As such the game development team at PlayGen together with four of our pilot cities have been focusing on extensive user testing of the two games; ‘Resource Force’ and ‘Photo Challenge’. With emphasis on reaching out to real end users and gaining insights and feedback, we are improving the games, enhancing their effectiveness and making them more enjoyable.
