Call for CCTV to be installed in city estates

A city councillor has called on the City Council to stop ‘fiddling about with red tape’ and press ahead immediately with the installation of CCTV cameras to combat crime in a number of estates on the east side of Galway.

Independent Councillor Terry O’Flaherty said that people living in Coillte Mhuirlinne and Sruthán Mhuirlinne in Ballybane, and Walter Macken Place in Mervue, were running out of patience over the long hold-up.

“They are sick to the teeth of hearing assurances from the Council that the cameras will be installed, but nothing happening to bring them any closer.

“And they are very disappointed that a recent Council meeting was adjourned without discussion of a motion I had tabled on this issue,” she said.

Cllr O’Flaherty said that after almost two years of campaigning by her, funding was finally secured in the Council’s Budget for 2015, but halfway through 2016 there was still no sign of the cameras going up.

“There is a history of problems in the two Ballybane estates which are close to the Merlin Woods, which is one of the root causes of the increase in anti-social behaviour that is making life a misery for many residents.

“Everybody accepts that the installation of CCTV cameras could help to stamp out a great deal of this activity and to identify those responsible.

“But how long more will they have to wait before the cameras are installed and they get some peace of mind finally?

“Residents are fed up with the Council fiddling about with red tape – last September I received the unanimous support from fellow councillors when I submitted an urgent motion calling for the installation to go ahead immediately.

“It’s now the start of June, the Summer is here with its long evenings and this is a time when the anti-social activities tend to increase,” added Cllr O’Flaherty.

She said that there was still no advance in the situation from two months ago when she was told in an email from the City Council that “this request is under active consideration” and would be advanced in the current year.

“It seems to me that the concerns of the residents are falling on deaf ears and they are just being fobbed off – it’s time for that to stop and it’s time the Council lived up to its promises,” said Cllr O’Flaherty.