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Cllr Sam Locke would like to see more garda checks at Rath cemetery at night. File Photo
A TRALEE councillor has called for routine Garda checks at Rath cemetery due to recent anti-social behaviour in the area.
On Monday evening, there were reports of up to 20 people drinking in Rath cemetery while people were at the graveyard visiting loved one’s graves and there has been more incidents of anti-social behaviour in the recent past.
“The only way it can be addressed on an ongoing basis, would be for the Gardaí, on occasion, when they’re driving by the cemetery, to do a spot-check to see what’s going on inside there,” said Cllr Sam Locke.
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“If there is a continuation of this type of behaviour and people are witness to it, what I advise them to do is contact the Gardaí, straight away, because they’re the only people who can address that problem,” he said.
“The general public can go into Rath cemetery at any time to grieve for their loss. If we had to go down the route of building walls and putting up gates, the cost of that would be phenomenal altogether,” he said.
Erecting CCTV is not a viable solution either said the councillor.
“No, not in the cemetery. That would infringe on people’s privacy, but realistically there could be a cameras on the entrances to see who’s coming and going,” said the Independent councillor.
“You’d want to see the number of people who go in there late at night to grieve, there is a lighting system on over there that comes on when it’s dark. On any given night there could be 50 or 60 mourners going into the cemetery to grieve,” he said.
Checks were made on the cemetery on Tuesday night, but there was no repeat of the incident.
