'A safe city is non negotiable,' say Cork business leaders

Ensuring Cork is a "safe city is non negotiable" the president of Cork Chamber has said.

Cork Chamber president Rob Horgan and Cork Business Association (CBA) president Aaron Mansworth both spoke during a panel discussion entitled ‘Inclusivity and City Centre’ as part of a symposium of city centre stakeholders hosted by Cork City Council last week.

Their discussion explored how stakeholders can work together towards a more vibrant and safe city centre.

Speaking to The Echo following the event, president of Cork Chamber and owner of Velo Coffee Roasters, Rob Horgan, called for an inclusive and welcoming city and highlighted the need for more collaboration with An Garda Síochána.

“We need to ensure that our city works for everybody. A safe city is non negotiable. It’s no longer acceptable to rely on reported crime numbers as a measure of safety,” he said.

“Cork city centre needs to be an inclusive and welcoming place where everybody feels safe.

“There is no doubt that we need greater resourcing for our gardaí to support our communities. This resource needs to be a publicly visible garda presence, not a quoted number.

“To give Cork city a resource that won’t maintain our current number when you allow for garda retirement and promotion out of Cork is an insult to the city.” 

CBA president Aaron Mansworth described the symposium as “a positive but honest event” with the right array of stakeholders in attendance.

“We spoke about the opportunities for the city, we spoke about the challenges facing the city and overall I think it was a very good event to be part of and the CBA are delighted to partake in it.

“What we’re trying to do is to make sure that forums in place are the right forums with the right people and to ensure we have the right communication channels.

“It’s about people being honest and as open as possible and it is up to us as representative organisations to work with as many of the other organisations as possible to feed in but also give information back to our members and to really make sure it’s an aligned and open narrative.”

During breakout discussions following the event, there was an agreement among stakeholders in attendance that Cork is a very safe city but that there are still issues to be addressed in order for people to feel safe on the street at all times of the day and night.

The need for more lighting was also discussed, with a discussion on how dimly lit areas tend to draw anti-social behaviour and how more lighting on North Main Street has made a big difference to how the city feels.

The anti-social behaviour of people urinating on the street was also highlighted and there was a call for the provision of public toilets in order to help prevent such behaviour from occurring in the city.

An Garda Síochána said it is dedicated to ensuring the safety of all communities in Cork city and that it takes reports of anti-social behaviour seriously and actively addresses these issues.

“This week gardaí launched the Summer High Visibility Patrols initiative for Cork city centre with the aim of keeping people safe as well as reducing incidents of retail crime in the area,” a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána told The Echo.

“Local gardaí also participated in a symposium organised by Cork City Council during which all stakeholders reaffirmed a commitment to keeping Cork city safe for residents, visitors and the business community.

“An Garda Síochána works with community leaders, stakeholders, including Cork City Council and the Cork Business Association, with a view to addressing local issues.”