Local 'thugs' called out by councillor as Kilkenny area vandalised
The matter was raised at July’s sitting of the Kilkenny City Municipal District
There have been renewed calls for an increase in CCTV in Kilkenny City following recent incidents of anti-social behaviour.
The calls come after yet another incident of vandalism targeting fencing in the Whitewood area of Newpark, Kilkenny City. The latest damage has renewed concerns among residents, who are urging those responsible to stop the repeated acts of vandalism and calling for measures to prevent further incidents.
"We did have access to a mobile CCTV unit that we used for catching people dumping rubbish. I do think we should avail of that to try and catch whoever is doing it,” Mayor of Kilkenny City, Cllr Andrew McGuinness commented.
"It’s the same with lifebuoys. I’m on the council over 20 years, every single year we have the same conversation about lifebuoys," he continued, claiming it’s time to ‘set an example’ of those who steal or throw them away.
Independent, Cllr Eugene McGuinness stressed that such damage is too costly, pleading with the public to report it.
“The amount of work we do in this city to try and keep it right, and then it only takes one night of a few thugs to go along and try and break the fencing and try and break into the dressing rooms and do damage up there,” Cllr McGuinness said.
“I would ask that anybody who sees that kind of behaviour report it to the guards immediately, because it happened last night (Thursday). The money we spend to keep the place right and someone going in and committing this type of damage is totally unacceptable.”
“We’ve had to replace that fence at the ring on three occasions,” Senior Roads Engineer with Kilkenny County Council, Stan Cullen told the meeting, revealing the council may have a suitable solution with a new, more secure fence.
More positively, Cllr Joe Malone suggested that vandals who removed life buoys from their stations in recent months have ‘backed off’, witnessing a noticeable improvement in recent times.
However, the former mayor believes CCTV is the only solution to protecting the devices.
At April’s meeting, the Fianna Fáil councillor appealed to offenders to ‘cop on’, describing the removal of the life-saving device as ‘petty and ridiculous’.
Local gardaí echoed a similar sentiment at the time, stating, “a stolen lifebuoy is a stolen life,” adding, “when a lifebuoy is removed from its station, it removes the only immediate lifeline available if someone falls into nearby water.”