A SKIBBEREEN-based Councillor has expressed his concern about general vandalism and anti-social behaviour in and around The Rock in Skibbereen, which got a major revamp just over a year ago.
Cllr Brendan McCarthy (FG) said he was up there recently as he had been scouting it as a potential venue for the Skibbereen Arts Festival.
The Rock is on an elevated grassy area, with panoramic views of Skibbereen and its surrounds.
As well as having been transformed into a destination for leisure and enjoyment, 850m of footpaths were also installed.
It was the location for small cottages and cabins during the Famine.
‘I was disgusted to see the area covered in broken glass. To see it being vandalised after so much money was spent on it is just disheartening,’ said Cllr McCarthy.
‘The Friends of The Rock maintain it but we as a Council need to step up in our maintenance of the area. We can’t expect volunteers to do it all.’
He added that those breaking glasses there are crunching it into the ground into really small pieces, and there are regular reports of anti-social behaviour taking place there.
‘People are asking for bins to be installed but these people would still break glass even if 10 bins were provided. We certainly need CCTV cameras to be installed there.’
Cllr Daniel Sexton (Ind Ire) echoed Cllr McCarthy’s sentiments about the area and said he too had recently observed the vandalism.
Senior executive officer Noreen O’Mahony said that the Council is continuing to work with The Friends of The Rock, but ruled out the installation of CCTV at this time; the Council are, however, happy to link up with the gardaí.
Municipal District manager Nicola Radley said they are awaiting guidance like many other local authorities, and they won’t be in a position to install CCTV at The Rock until this happens.
