Call to install CCTV cameras at graffiti blackspots in Limerick

INDEPENDENT northside councillor Kathleen Leddin wants CCTV to be installed at graffiti blackspots in the city.

Speaking at the City Council meeting, Cllr Leddin asked management: “What steps are going to be taken to stop the graffiti in town? It needs to be cleared straight away. Can we install cameras around certain hotspots?”

Cllr Leddin said visible graffiti on city streets was no more than “total vandalism” - and the environment department needs to “get its act together” to counteract it.

But Labour’s southside councillor Orla McLoughlin made a point of disagreeing with her council colleague.

“I would actually like to compliment the environment department. They have been doing an excellent job in cleaning up the walls,” she told the meeting.

While the council indeed has a dedicated graffiti clean-up programme, it has been alleged that they have also been receiving unwanted help from a city businessman.

Eager to make an impression, however, the culprit has actually attacked the work of legitimate artists in areas dedicated to murals.

These include ‘the Spot’ on the Dock Road and the city’s skatepark in Mount Kennett.

It has been claimed that the work of over twenty artists, who travelled from all over Ireland and further afield to take part in a so-called Graffiti Jam organised by local artists over the St Patrick’s weekend, has been destroyed, including that of American Navajo Indian artist Adam Closer.

Cllr Tom Shortt said recently that the action had caused “great upset amongst the community of young Limerick artists” and said such action was “unacceptable”.