Bus shelter vandalism in Cork city an ‘attack on society’

Smashing glass panels on bus shelters is “an attack on society” and must be urgently addressed by the installation of cameras, a Cork City councillor has said.

Labour Party councillor and chairman of the council’s transport committee, Peter Horgan, told The Echo that three shelters were broken on Tuesday night, shattering glass all over the ground and leaving passengers without shelter from wind and rain.

“Overnight we had shelters in Broadale and outside Eglantine smashed by thugs who have nothing better to do,” he said. “My colleague, Councillor John Maher, had a shelter smashed in Ballyvolane.”

He added that this is not the first time this has happened. “We’ve had the serial smashing of the shelter in Garryduff and other locations,” he said.

“This costs money to install and repair.

“These are public property, being destroyed by certain people, who must be brought to justice. The idea that a society cannot have something as simple as a bus shelter for fear of it being destroyed is anathema to me as a public representative.”

He added that he has met with people who wait for buses there, who “no longer feel safe” using the shelters, due to the broken glass.

“That’s not acceptable to me as a city councillor or as a citizen,” he said.

“Public transport is for all, not just a select few, and if these actions of destruction start putting people off public transport, then that will be a sad day.

“We’ve had trial technology on AI cameras on buses, citing illegal behaviour at junctions and bus stops; the same is needed now across the fleet.

“The Government and the NTA need to speed up the process and ensure the automatic detection cameras on the fleet and at junctions are provided and rolled out.”