Westport CCTV

Westport organisations to look for 2008 funding for CCTV

Michael Duffy

“EVERY time a car is broken into or a business is vandalised, people always say, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we had CCTV’. It’s time we got our house in order and made CCTV a reality.”
That is the view of Westport Town Councillor Myles Staunton, a view that is supported by the Gardaí and Westport Chamber of Commerce. The organisations in question have now formed a committee and are formulating a business plan which will result in an application being put before the Government for funding in 2008. Almost €3 million in funding was awarded by Minister Brian Lenihan a fortnight ago to 15 community-based CCTV projects nationwide.
Cllr Staunton said CCTV would be an added crime prevention tool for the Gardaí in Westport, especially in summer time when the town had a population three times its normal size.
“CCTV would undoubtedly be an asset to gardaí who have to be under pressure during the summer months with so many people visiting Westport. CCTV would give the people of Westport, and the many visitors, peace of mind, if it is done in a sensible and moderate way,” said Cllr Staunton, who said if towns like Manorhamilton and Thurles, who both recently secured funding, had the system in place, then Westport should too.
Superintendent Pat Doyle of Westport Garda Station said ‘in this day and age’ CCTV should be utilised to assist gardaí in crime prevention and detection.
“We will be assisting both the Chamber and the Council in the preparation of the business plan in the hope of securing funding from the Government in 2008. During the preparation of the plan, we hope to decipher by exactly how much the population increases during the summertime and also how much it increases at weekend. We have ten hotels in the town and you only have to walk the town on a Saturday night to notice the huge increase,” said Supt Doyle.