This article is from page 8 of the 2006-01-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
ENNIS Chamber of Commerce has said that closed circuit security cameras may only arrive in Ennis in 2007, despite Government assurances that the town is on its priority list, for the roll out of the new equipment.
Ennis is included on a Department of Justice priority list, for the Garda CCTV programme. Six new areas have been added to that list, bringing to 17, the number of towns on it.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell said last week that more than €5 million had been set aside to extend CCTV coverage to provincial urban centres, this year. He said the initial public procurement process would get underway shortly.
A spokesman for the department told The Clare People all 17 would be rolled out in an “outsourcing initiative”.
“What this means for Ennis is it will be delivered quicker than previously would have been the case.
“Hopefully a lot of this will be done this year or next year,” said the spokesman.
The CEO of Ennis Chamber of Commerce said CCTV should be installed sooner rather than later in Ennis, the tenth largest town in Ireland.
“They [Dept of Justice] say they are starting the process, but the process takes between seven and nine months. It looks like we won’t get it until 2007,” said Rita McInerney.
“The process would want to start immediately in order for us to have it by next Christmas, given the length of time it takes,” she added.
The process will include the establishment of a committee between Ennis gardai, Ennis Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce.
“It is a very complicated process. If the committee is set up immediately, I would see no problem us working with the gardai and the Town Council. The organisations in the town are ready for it,” added Ms McInerney.
The Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Frankie Neylon, has said the CCTV issue has been on the backburner for far too long, having been put back four times.
“We were told we were third or fourth on the 2006 to 2008 priority list. If they have now added on other places, they have probably put them in front of Ennis, rather than behind it,” said Cllr Neylon.
But he warned that the arrival of CCTV should not be allowed to cause the transfer of crime problems to other areas of the county.