Fears antisocial behaviour could cause a death

A CRISIS meeting has been called to tackle antisocial behaviour in Cork city amid fears that inter-family violence in some areas could result in a death.

Two local politicians — one from the northside and one from the southside — said the situation had reached crisis point in their areas and was forcing law-abiding families to leave their homes.

Lord Mayor, Councillor Michael Ahern, appealed to judges to take a tougher stance on people beforethe courts on chargeslinked to antisocialbehaviour.

“They have to see the mayhem on the ground to appreciate the scale of the problem,” he said.

The comments were made during a debate on the issue at a council meeting on Monday.

Northside Councillor Annette Spillane (SF) said the violence involvedin some disputes between families was frightening.

“There has already been a stabbing in one situation,” she said. ‘‘I fear that unless we do something serious to tackle this, there will be another serious injury or even a death.”

Meanwhile, city officials, gardaí, and key figures from the Health Service Executive are expected to attend the meeting on anti-social behaviour in the coming weeks.