Kilkenny on LiveLine now!

brettmirl

Joe Duffy discussing how rough Kilkenny is at the weekends.

Malcom Noonan and Sean O'hArgain (sp?) on along with people from the city and people who have visited.

General gist of it -


Hen Parties to blame.

Councillors sitting on their hands as they have vested interests in the pubs.

People complaining about noise of parties in hotels and vowing not to come back.

Lots of people urinating on the street.

No visible police presence.

Young guy from Cork was beaten up in City over May Bank Holiday weekend and ended up on life-support in Beaumont Hospital.


Am sure the show will be available later today at: http://www.rte.ie/radio1/index.html in the Listen Back section on right.

Nightwish

Its sad as its so true. I hate this place at weekends. Police presence is definately an issue. Theres usually one paddywagon doing the rounds, a cop car on Greensbridge/Waterford Rd/Ring road/Comer Road for random breath-testing and 2 cops walking around town.

BeatNikDub

Ive seen one bad fight since i moved here 2 years ago.

I find if you stick down parliament street theres rarely any bother.

Even walking up high street to Morrissons or the parade is fine - just skip supermacs.

Anyway its because of last weekend that the new license law has come in.
Closing bars 30 mins early is not going to solve this problem. Its the same people and the same areas doing this.
My friends were beaten up very badly last summer. The people who did it to them were caught on CCTV AND they had the reg number of the car they pulled up in and several witnesses but NOTHING was ever done about it.

If people get away with violence they are going to keep doing it.

Whoever gets into Government for this constituency HAS to work at this

Nightwish

The parade is really really bad, especially after 1 am. My boyfriend used to rent nearby and the amount of idiots around, fighting over taxi's, girls, etc is unreal.

BeatNikDub

Nightwish wrote:

The parade is really really bad, especially after 1 am. My boyfriend used to rent nearby and the amount of idiots around, fighting over taxi's, girls, etc is unreal.

Plus theres never any guards around.

Stephen

John street is ****ing scary at night.

Edit: here's the podcast of liveline in mp3 format: http://pc.rte.ie/2007/pc/pod-v-180507-43m41s-liveline.mp3
"No laughing matter for Kilkenny"

Much better than that realplayer sh1te they have in the listen back section

Lump

Pa, John street is alright

Firetrap

Kilkenny's not pleasant at closing time but neither are lots of other Irish towns That John Street is a long, relatively narrow street with lots of pubs (some rougher than others) on it and two nightclubs doesn't help either. It's hard to know who's to blame really - the local yokels, visitors (especially the bunny ears brigade), the guards....

I dream of the day when Kilkenny goes out of fashion as the destination of choice for all those people who come off the train already tanked up and ready to drink their heads off over the weekend. I really honestly don't see the attraction.

brettmirl

I'm from John St originally and there has ALWAYS been trouble on the street on a Saturday night. Before it was the locals knockin the ****e out of one another, nowadays it's mostly hen/stag parties or groups of people 'down on the lash'.

This morning, at 11am, there was a gang of Dublin women (complete with pink cowboy hats and L plates) walking down John street drinking bottles of WKD and Bud singing their heads off. 11am. Imagine the state they will be in come 11pm.

John Street does get a bad press though. Yes, there is trouble on it, but as Allie has pointed out you have two nite clubs, 3/4 late bars, another 10 or so regular bars and three chippers on it...plus a taxi rank.

We were promised CCTV cameras for Kilkenny years ago. What ever happened to them?

Also, you will rarely see Gardai on the beat on a Saturday night. They are under-resourced and extra Gardai should be drafted in from other areas to places like Kilkenny (and other party venue towns/cities like Galway) when the weekend population swells.

Firetrap

I think because of the layout of Kilkenny and its current reputation as the place to go drink your head off at weekends, things are worse on a Saturday night. I've a friend who is a bouncer in another town and some of the stories he's told me would make your hair curl. What's going on in Kilkenny is just a microcosm of a greater malaise (for want of a better word) amongst certain people in Irish society.

It's wrong that there aren't many guards around at night time, especially when it gets towards closing time. It's even worse that people have degenerated into beings who feel it's acceptable behaviour to get into fights, harass passers-by, have sex in public and generally behave like louts. We shouldn't need to have paddy-wagons patrolling the streets or lots of guards. Whatever happened to just going out and having a few drinks?

On a practical level, like Mick suggested, more guards need to be drafted in at weekends. More CCTV wouldn't hurt either, though that too would want to be monitored....I've heard stories of CCTV tapes mysteriously going missing after someone got stabbed.

finlma

More Garda on the streets is the only answer. Yet another example of Fianna Fáils mishandelling of our country. If you care about it get rid of them.

brettmirl

It's amazing what you can find on Youtube when you search for Kilkenny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHBRiEHnABA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2OajILTUeU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEYdG8Tj-d4




This is possibly the scariest one...not for the faint hearted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6loclCSxo

Stephen

The comments left on those videos are even more stomach-churning. Text-speak morons at their finest.

Firetrap

It sums it all up really. Things are bad when the most civilized clip of the 4 is Brendan Kilkenny!

brettmirl

Found this on the Dail record from 2003:

830. Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the person who has been given the task of planning the type of closed circuit television system to be delivered in Kilkenny city; if the gardaí will consult locally with either the chamber of commerce or the borough council; if there is a tender process; if so, the process in this regard; the time frame involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1371/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): Kilkenny is one of 17 locations set to receive new Garda CCTV systems over the next two years subject, of course, to the availability of funds. The other locations are, in alphabetical order: Athlone, Ballyfermot, Bray, Carlow, Castlebar, Clondalkin, Clonmel, Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire, Ennis, Finglas, Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Tallaght and Waterford.

Applications for Garda CCTV systems are assessed by the advisory committee, which was established by the Garda Commissioner to evaluate CCTV applications, on the basis of Garda operational needs and include the following criteria: crime/public order statistics in the area; population and level of activity there; the recommendation of local Garda management; any special circumstances/needs that exist and the likely impact of a Garda CCTV system in the area. Co-funding is also a feature of Garda CCTV systems and this is usually addressed when it has been decided to install a Garda CCTV system in an area. All applications for Garda CCTV systems must be prepared in co-operation with the local Garda district and divisional officers and receive their support. Applications will normally have been made as a result of representations from groups forming residential, commercial and local government interests, and would be expected to contain the location and scope of the cameras required.

An application for a CCTV system was received from Kilkenny, with the support of both the Kilkenny county borough and chamber of commerce, and has been approved. I am advised by the Garda authorities that planning for the installation of a CCTV system for Kilkenny is scheduled to commence later this year. There are a number of stages in the planning of new Garda CCTV systems. A tender process is initiated by the drafting of tender documents which include, inter alia, details of the evaluation criteria to be applied and the technical specifications of equipment required for the CCTV system. These documents are produced by the superintendent in charge, telecommunications project management at Garda headquarters.

At this stage, the local divisional officer will be appointed chairman of a local CCTV implementation group. This group, which is kept aware of the progress of the scheme, will consist of representatives of each local group expressing an interest in the scheme, such as the chamber of commerce and the relevant local authority. Representatives of the OPW, ESB and other service providers who may be in a position to advise on or provide assistance in the implementation of the scheme are also included as well as Garda crime prevention and representative body personnel.

All purchasing is subject to Government public procurement guidelines which require a tendering process. Due to the costs involved in such projects, the scheme must also comply with EU public procurement directives. The tendering and procurement process and the provision of services by outside agencies will determine the time frame within which each system is completed.

http://gov.ie/debates-03/29Jan/Sect21.htm

So, according to that, the planning stages for Garda monitored CCTV cameras were due to start in 2003, but of course there is still no sign of them. How long does it take?

I seem to remember them being promised for at least the last ten years.

road_high

No political clout=No CCTV cameras. Simple as that.