Cameras in Mallow will monitor licence plates of suspect gang vehicles

Gangs of criminals from Dublin and Limerick which have targeted rural areas of Cork will now be tracked by new CCTV technology which is being installed in the town of Macroom.

It has been revealed that two of the 17 CCTV cameras currently being installed in the town will be equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.

All the cameras will be monitored by gardaí in Macroom station, but the ANPR ones will set off a buzzer in the station immediately alerting gardaí to suspect vehicles which have just passed by.

The ANPR system allows gardaí to monitor the movements of vehicles which don’t have current tax, insurance and NCT certificates, but even more importantly, it can track vehicles which are suspected of carrying criminals.

Council senior executive engineer James Dwyer told a meeting of the Blarney/Macroom municipal district council that before its dissolution Macroom Town Council set aside money to install the CCTV cameras.

The contract for erecting them was given to ESS Ltd, which has installed all but three of the cameras.

He said it was likely they would all become operational within the next two weeks.

“The system consists of 17 CCTV cameras located in the Market Car Park, Main Street, the three squares, Masseytown and near the Castle Arch. Two of these cameras are the ANPR type which can be moved as operational needs require,” Mr Dwyer said.

The news was welcomed by a number of councillors.

Cllr Des O’Grady said he was especially pleased to hear that two of the cameras would have ANPR technology.

“They are very efficient, especially for tracking criminals,” Cllr O’Grady said.

He also praised the former town council members for having the foresight to put away money to purchase the CCTV system.

Mr Dwyer said that gardaí had also contacted council staff to let them know they would be glad to show councillors the system when it was fully operational.

“This will be of great benefit in combating crime,” Cllr Michael Creed said, while Cllr Ted Lucey, a former member of the town council, proclaimed the state-of-the-art system would protect local citizens.

Meanwhile, council officials announced they are to seek planning permission for a new fire station in Macroom.

They said that it will be built on a site on the outskirts of the town on the Killarney Road.

The OPW is also proposing to build a new garda station on the same site, which will be constructed through a Public/Private Partnership (PPP).

Some demolition works on old sheds on the site will have to be undertaken before the fire station is constructed.

It will feature two bays which are larger than the present fire station so they can house bigger fire tenders.

The plan went out to public consultation and only one submission was received.

It came from the owners of a local B&B who said they are worried that noise from sirens could impact on their guests.

The council officials said that, on average, Macroom fire brigade gets about three call-outs a week.

They said they would provide a timeframe for its construction at next month’s municipal district meeting.