Level of violent assaults ‘a serious concern’

ONE year after an innovative and ambitious campaign promised to crack down on street crime in Waterford, Victim Support has expressed “serious concern” about the number of violent assaults in the city.

Twelve months ago the Safe Home Partnership was launched by nightclub owners, An Garda Siochána and Waterford City Council.

The innovative project involving the public and private sector promised more CCTV cameras, shuttle buses to take clubbers home safely and a range of other measures to curb late night crime.

However, Victim Support insists the lack of CCTV cameras in the city remains a significant factor in increasingly violent incidences in street crime.

“One of our major concerns in recent years is the nature of crime - it is much more violent and random, with day time attacks also on the increase,” Michael O’Neill, chairperson of the Waterford branch of Victim Support said.

“The CCTV cameras would help matters, it’s a deterrent and we have been promised them for a long time, but it hasn’t come,” he said.

Local Superintendent Micheal McGarry disputed suggestions that nothing had been done to advance the Safe Home Partnership.

“We’re going to have a review shortly to address it,” he said.

“There’s been good co-operation from nightclub owners and some CCTV cameras have been put in place outside Ruby’s nightclub,” he said.

However, he said more extensive plans to rollout CCTV cameras on side streets and outside licensed premises were awaiting approval from the Department of Justice.

He also admitted plans for a ‘safe home’ shuttle bus were scrapped when taxi drivers objected to the plan.

“We had intended that there would be a bus available to take students home, but taxi drivers weren’t in favour of it taking their clientele,” he said. Instead taxi drivers agreed to “up the ante” by providing more cars when nightclubs and bars close.

“Waterford city is relatively peaceful, we have the occasional assault but there hasn’t been a massive increase in the number of serious assaults,” he said.

Former mayor Tom Cunnigham said he could not comment on the Safe Home Partnership as he “hadn’t been briefed about it.”

A spokesperson for Waterford City Council said no meeting had been held in relation to the matter since the new mayor Seamus Ryan took office.

“It’s a law and order issue, we just facilitate a meeting of the gardaí and business parties,” she said.

A spokesperson for the night club owners was not available to comment.