Petrol bombs cause hundreds of thousands of euro worth of damage to Kildare homes

'Drugs gangs are running riot'

Drugs gangs are “running riot” and hundreds of thousands of euro worth of damage has been caused by petrol bombs to homes in the Derrinturn area.

That’s according to fine Gael councillor Brendan Wyse, who called for the deployment of CCTV systems to tackle crime.

He said, at a Kildare County Council meeting, that people have CCTV systems in their homes “and yet we don’t have them on the street.”

Cllr Brendan Wyse

Another councillor, Fintan Brett, asked Kildare County Council to “work proactively with community groups to support the installation of a countywide CCTV network.”

He said that apart from the activities of local criminals, people are coming from Dublin to target residential areas within the county.

Cllr Brett said CCTV is a deterrent and “we need to progress it asap.”

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He said money is available to the community for this and some €50,000 has been put aside to set up a system in Naas.

He said there are no data protection issues associated with CCTV use and “we need to support the gardaí.”

Athy-based Cllr Aoife Breslin said anti-social behaviour and dumping are issues that CCTV can help solve.

She complained that €60,000 was spent on equipment in Athy but “it’s out of date and won’t work.”

In Newbridge, it could help tackle poor driving habits including people driving in the wrong direction, said Cllr Chris Pender while Cllr Bernard Caldwell said CCTV pictures have been used to identify alleged possible rioters in Dublin.

At the moment gardaí rely on businesses for CCTV footage, which costs these enterprises a lot of money, said Cllr Daragh Fitzpatrick, who said there should be a publicly-run system. 

However KCC official Marian Higgins said there are significant legal requirements and responsibilities associated with these systems.

“It’s not as simple as putting up cameras," she said.

She said KCC and all local authorities must assess each proposed project on  a case-by-case basis. Ms Higgins said some systems had been “stood down” elsewhere.

She also said that in the absence of joint policing committees (forums for the gardai, council officials and councillors to meet) “there does not appear to be a mechanism currently available to apply for establishment of any community CCTV schemes at this time.”