CCTV systems - Cameras can offer public protection

The public should welcome the installation of CCTV systems in 17 more areas around the country — in towns as widespread as Drogheda, Sligo, Kinsale, Dungarvan, Athlone, and Clonmel.

They new systems, announced by Justice Minister Michael McDowell yesterday, should be up and running by the end of the year. This will bring the number of CCTV systems in operation to 26 from the nine already in place.

Some object to these cameras as an infringement of people’s privacy, but they do provide a degree of protection for everyone going about their daily lives in a law-abiding way. The people who have to fear the system are those contemplating criminal acts within view of the cameras.