*Cathedral Court.
DRINK AND DRUG activity has made people “fearful” to travel by Cathedral Court in Ennis, a county councillor has claimed.
Appeals for a clean-up at Cathedral Court and ongoing monitoring of the pedestrian access area “to prevent the littering from getting out of control,” was sought by Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF).
In a proposal before the Ennis Municipal District, she asked “that this location be considered for the installation of CCTV permissible under new legislation”.
Senior executive engineer, Brendan Flynn clarified that the laneway was not in the Council’s ownership, “therefore the removal of litter is the responsibility of the property management company”.
Local authorities are not yet permitted to use CCTV for monitoring and investigating illegal dumping, he advised. “The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 aims to provide for the GDPR-compliant use of a range of technologies such as CCTV for waste enforcement purposes. When this legislation is enacted the use of such technology will support efforts to tackle illegal dumping and littering across county Clare. The Local Government Management Agency is tasked with preparing a draft code of practice for the purposes of setting standards for the operation of the use of CCTV. Once developed the Council can review the use of relevant technologies”.
Issues are ongoing with the laneway next to Cathedral Court, Cllr Colleran Molloy. “Some of you have I’m sure been sent pictures of the residue from the night before and sometimes it’s not even the night before,” she remarked at the March meeting of the Ennis MD.
Support was voiced by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) who said it is an area regularly cleaned by Ennis Tidy Towns volunteers. “It is disgraceful and disgusting what happens there”. She noted that Monaghan County Council were rolling out CCTV use to clamp down on illegal dumping and asked Council officials for an update on why this hasn’t transpired yet in Clare.
“We know CCTV coverage can address illegal dumping and littering, we’ve all brought it up but we’ve been hit on the head by legality and GDPR,” Colleran Molloy responded. “CCTV would make people think twice,” Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) believed.
Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) commented, “Most certainly it is a problem area”. He referenced “mindless vandalism” that occurred at Clareabbey which was “terrible and very upsetting” where “people rammed through the bollards, volunteers had to clean the mess of broken bumpers and bits and pieces, it is hard to take for volunteers who have to clean up and powers not being used”.
According to Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG), “a lot of people in Cathedral Court are fearful to travel by the lane because of the activity ongoing there that is drink and drug related. It is causing serious concern”. Anti-social behaviour at the laneway has been “going on for many years,” Cllr Pat Daly (FF) replied.
Addressing the meeting, senior executive officer with the Ennis MD, Leonore O’Neill remarked, “My understanding is Monaghan Town Council have installed a CCTV system in collaboration with An Garda Síochána”. The Circular Economy bill will allow local authorities install CCTV, she added, “this circular economy bill is to deal with litter not criminality which is not a function of Clare County Council”. Ms O’Neill said, “It is a long time coming but it is coming”.
An annoyed Cllr Howard replied, “It is so frustrating that we have 20 locations covered in grafitti, then you hear of an accident and they are looking for dash cam footage to help in the investigation, how do they check the criteria”. O’Neill advised, “This issue will close out with greater clarity this year, hopefully we will be able to move forward with greater clarity”.
