Ex-Mayor in call for curfew on teens

A litany of complaints from residents in a number of housing estates on the east side of Galway has prompted a City Councillor to call for a “curfew” on teenagers from 8pm to 8am to prevent youths from engaging in anti-social activity.

Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Independent) said she had received a large volume of complaints from residents in a small number of estates, relating to cars being vandalised, broken car and house windows, wing mirrors, intimidation of residents, and what she described as “general loutish, yobbish” behaviour.

She visited one particular household this week in which the owners have lost the no-claims bonus for their car because of the number of claims arising from acts of vandalism.

The family involved have now installed five CCTV cameras around their home as a result of the activities of a gang of teenagers.

Cllr O’Flaherty said much of the activity involved mindless vandalism, such as knocking on front doors in the early hours or smashing car mirrors at random.

 “Some of the residents I have met have had to go to great expense to install CCTV cameras in their homes but, unfortunately, this does not deter these youths as they pull ‘hoodies’ over their faces and some have been seen wearing balaclavas,” she said.

“The area in question is very close to a playground and a vast wooded area where these youths congregate and it is also an escape route for them to get involved in all kinds of wanton anti-social behaviour.”

On Wednesday night, residents from five estates in the Merlin Park area met with Gardai to press for extra Garda patrols at night, the installation of public CCTV cameras, and for the local station at Ballybane to be manned 24 hours per day.

Cllr O’Flaherty said the anti-social behaviour in the east side estates could not be dealt with by the Gardai acting on their own. “These youths, in my view, should be subjected to a twelve-hour curfew from eight in the evening to eight in the morning. Unless a strong line is taken against this growing problem of children causing havoc, there is a danger of matters getting out of control.”

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.