Boots on the ground at Kilcully as security improvements begin

IMPROVEMENTS to security at Kilcully graveyard are under way following assurances from Cork City Council during a recent local area meeting that additional measures would be taken.

“Contractors are on site and the CCTV system has now been upgraded,” Stephen Scully of Cork City Council’s Parks Department told The Echo.

Mr Scully added that the next step will be to improve the lighting, thus enabling better quality images to be recorded on the CCTV system.

Representatives of relatives of the deceased attended a meeting on Monday, January 27, with councillors from the North West and North East areas, as well as some council officials.

Following the meeting, the specification of the CCTV cameras at the graveyard was set to be changed and upgraded, and a voiceover system added.

The estimated cost of the security upgrades is expected to be in the region of €30,000.

The news that work is progressing at Kilcully graveyard was welcomed by Sinn Féin City Councillor Thomas Gould, who said that the security improvements are a “positive step”.

“I am satisfied with the initial work which is progressing at the cemetery,” said Mr Gould, who added that he would be eager to see a 24-hour monitoring system in place whereby gardaí would be immediately alerted in the case of any criminal activity.

Mr Gould said the next issue at hand is the repair work that needs to be carried out on headstones and graves which were vandalised last month.

The estimated cost of the damage that was done then is €16,000.

Mr Gould said he, along with a number of other councillors, has pledged some of their ward funds to help families meet the costs of repairing the damage to the plots.

TJ Hogan, who is bidding to become Cork’s first Traveller TD, and is a member of the Kilcully Community Action Group, said that while he welcomes the progress at Kilcully, “the entire work is not done as of yet”.

The City Council is set to have a meeting with representatives of the Kilcully Community Action Group in the next few weeks to ensure they are satisfied with the progress.