Limerick City and County council set to hire new contractor to remove graffiti
LIMERICK City and County Council are in the process of hiring a graffiti removal specialist to deal with offensive and racist drawings.
Councillors for the Metropolitan area have been told that the tender process has begun to find a specialist who will deal solely with the issue.
The specialist will be on call and will aim to remove any racist or offensive remarks within 48 hours of the graffiti being reported to the local authority.
Councillors raised the issue after offensive graffiti was reported at Punches Cross and Pa Healy Road in the city.
Cllr Sarah Kiely said the council needs to respond to graffiti in a more timely manner and the issue has put the city “under siege”.
Meanwhile, Cllr Kieran O' Hanlon said that people were now travelling to Limerick from abroad to “tag” as they “know they will get away with it”.
Cllr O'Hanlon went on to say that while he accepts some graffiti is an artistic expression, it also destroys property and “drags down the quality of the area”.
Cllr Conor Sheehan said that a clear message needs to be sent that offensive and racist drawings as well as normal graffiti will not be tolerated.