*Kilrush Town.
COMMUNITY SAFETY has “come to a head” in Kilrush with an increasing amount of threats to damage persons and property in the West Clare town.
An “urgent meeting” with An Garda Síochána has been sought by elected members of the West Clare Municipal District.
In a proposal before the West Clare MD, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) called for the meeting “to ensure that any GDPR issue relation to the use of CCTV cameras in Kilrush are resolved with immediate effect. If a suitable solution is not found the intervention from the Minister and the Commissioner is to be requested”.
Senior executive officer in the West Clare MD, John O’Malley explained that the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 was signed into law in December 2023 and provides for a new regime for the authorisation and operation of CCTV schemes. Part 5 of this Act which “concerns authorisation for installation and operation of CCTV for the prevention, investigation and prosecution of crime is awaiting commencement”.
O’Malley outlined, “Under the 2023 Act, an application could be made to the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána by either a local authority or by An Garda Síochána to install public realm surveillance, accompanied by a data protection impact assessment and documented evidence as to the necessity and proportionality of the proposed surveillance. Under the 2023 Act, a code of practice is to be put by the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána for the approval of the Minister to become the statutory code to apply to public CCTV surveillance schemes. The commencement of part 5 of the 2023 Act and the statutory code of practice is awaited”.
Members of the local authority have been doing “trojan work on this issue” over the last five years in Kilrush, Cllr Lynch acknowledged. “It has come to a head, community safety is a problem here, in the last three to four months I’ve had a number of phone calls about property being damaged or threatened”.
Ownership of CCTV is an issue, the Kilrush representative flagged. “We need to sit down with An Garda Síochána and stop this nonsense. When other towns and villages in the county like Ennis have CCTV why can’t we have it in Kilrush. There is a separate meeting needed with the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division to get this resolved”.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) commented, “it is something which needs to be addressed. This is an urgent meeting which needs to happen”.
Director of Services with Clare County Council, Siobhán McNulty informed the meeting that the local authority has a working group in contact with An Garda Síochána regarding CCTV. “The primary issue is the relevant section of the Act hasn’t been enacted,” she highlighted. “When that is done then we can start to move forward with new CCTV systems. Until such time as we have that appropriate legislation, there is ongoing engagement with An Garda Síochána but we’re hamstrung until such time as the legislation is enacted”.
“I appreciate that is the answer but the reality is Ennis has CCTV owned by An Garda Síochána in the Garda Station, Kilrush has CCTV but it is owned by the Council,” Cllr Lynch replied.
