Meeting to seek action over drunk students

People affected by the antics of drunken third-level students in Cork City have been urged to attend a special meeting next Monday.

The request has been made by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Buttimer, who is calling for firmer action to curb the problem.

A special meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) will be held in City Hall that afternoon and will be open to the public.

It will be attended by senior management of UCC and CIT, local public representatives, the city manager and senior gardaí.

Cllr Buttimer has called for action against students who engage in severe and persistent forms of anti-social behaviour.

“It is important that all interested groups and stakeholders work together to try and resolve the ongoing difficulty of extreme anti-social behaviour by students in residential areas. The third-level institutions of UCC and CIT are of the utmost importance to Cork City; economically, socially and educationally. We cannot allow a small minority of students to jeopardise that. Neither can we allow that small minority of students wreak havoc across local residential areas,” Cllr Buttimer said.

Cllr Buttimer, who represents the city’s south-west ward, which includes UCC and CIT, said the timing of this meeting in advance of the academic year is appropriate.

“There should be a coordinated and consistent response from the beginning of the academic year, from the student unions, the college authorities, the city council and the Gardaí, that a zero-tolerance approach will be taken,” Cllr Buttimer said.

He added that he’d received dozens of phonecalls, emails and texts from local residents and landlords cataloguing the difficulties they have experienced.

“I’m encouraging as many people as possible to attend the JPC on Monday afternoon so that there is a clear and unambiguous understanding of the impact that ongoing and persistent anti-social behaviour has on the lives of local residents and local communities,” he said.

The lord mayor also stated that there is a need for cooperation by landlords in the management of their properties.

“The attitude of some landlords who allow their properties to become run down and unkempt is matched by tenants who feel they do not have to respect the property or the locality,” he said.

Cllr Buttimer said the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) also had a role to play.

“The PRTB is involved in dispute resolution and acts as an arbitrator between landlords, tenants and local residents. Residents associations in Bishopstown have referred landlords to the PRTB before, but it is an extraordinarily long process and needs to be speeded up,” he said.

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