Windows broken and homes broken into - Calls for security gate on Cork cul-de-sac
Rose Jones and her daughter on St Peter’s Ave, Grattan Street an area where residents are calling for security gates to be installed following numerous incidences of anti-social behaviour. Picture Dan Linehan
RESIDENTS of one of the oldest parts of Cork city are calling on the city council to install security gates on their cul-de-sac due to what they say are ongoing incidents of antisocial behaviour.
St Patrick’s Avenue is located off Grattan Street, beside St Peter’s Park, and residents say they have been plagued by what they say is a “never-ending” series of occurrences of anti-social behaviour.
There are 10 homes on the section of St Patrick’s Avenue which runs parallel to the southern wall of St Peter’s Park, and one resident said she is in the process of gathering residents’ signatures for a petition asking Cork City Council to install a gate.
Rose Jones has lived on St Patrick’s Avenue on Grattan Street since 2014, and she shares her home with her 18-year-old daughter Patricia, who is legally blind and has spina bifida and mobility issues.
Ms Jones also lives with her adult son and daughter, and her grandchild.
Ms Jones told she had spent the past several years asking her housing officer for Cork City Council to install a security gate on St Peter’s Avenue, a claim the council disputes.
“There’s a lot of activity, especially at the weekends, with the pubs and the clubs, people are wandering down our alleyway, knocking on our doors, there’s a lot of drug activity, and needles being used and left outside our doors,” Ms Jones said.
“One of my neighbours, she opened her door one morning to find a load of needles in her doorway, and we regularly find people sleeping in our doorways.
“And what goes on in that park, oh my God - the needles, the tinfoil, the fighting, there’s everything going on in there.”
The worst excesses occur at night, after the park closes, Ms Jones alleged, saying that one of her neighbours recently had her windows broken in, and on one occasion two addicts broke into Ms Jones’s own home.
“We found a man asleep on the couch upstairs, and another man passed out on the kitchen table; we regularly find used condoms outside our door, and recently two men were having sex outside our window,” she said.
“We just feel that a security gate would solve an awful lot of problems for us on our street,” Ms Jones added.
Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, said he was advocating on behalf of St Peter’s Avenue residents.
“Residents are gathering together a petition to call for the installation of this gate,” Mr Gould said.
“I have been up and seen where it needs to go. I will support residents to hand this petition into City Hall and I have written to Council about this.” Mr Gould said St Peter’s Avenue was a vibrant and diverse neighbourhood with a very active and caring community.
“They have access to a park that has huge potential to be an asset to the area,” he said.
"Cork City Council need to explore all avenues to reduce the impact of this on St Peter’s Avenue and right across Cork City.”
Despite Ms Jones’ assertion that she had repeatedly asked that Cork City Council install gates on St Peter’s Avenue, a spokesperson said the council had not received a request to erect gates at St Peter’s Avenue.
“The affected residents can submit a plebiscite to have gates erected with a location map to Roads Operations and an assessment to determine the suitability can then be carried out,” they said.
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