Hopes for Kildare Community Safety Partnership
Left to Right - Superintendent Barry Mills, An Garda Síochána, Kildare South District; Sonya Kavanagh, Chief Executive, Kildare County Council; Elected Vice Chair Mario Obijiaku; Elected Chair Councillor Angela Feeney; Superintendent Irene Campbell, An Garda Síochána, Kildare North District.
THE new Kildare Local Community Safety Partnership aims to have a positive impact in the community, according to its first chairperson.
Maynooth councillor Angela Feeney of the Labour Party has been elected chair of a new committee designed to address community safety issues in Kildare.
The Kildare Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) gathered privately at Áras Chill Dara last Thursday for its’ first meeting, where Mario Obijiaku – a youth representative who is the youngest member of the committee – was also elected as vice chair.
The LCSP is a committee of 28 representatives from a variety of backgrounds. There are representatives from An Garda Síochána, Kildare County Council (KCC), Tusla, the HSE, probation services and the Department of Justice, alongside representatives from local community, youth and education sectors.
Chief Executive Sonya Kavanagh, acting director of services for integration David Creighton and director of services for climate, community, environment and water Marian Higgins are the three representatives from the executive of the council on the new committee. Joining cllr Feeney from the elected members of the council on the committee are cllr Aoife Breslin (Athy MD), cllrs Tracey O’Dwyer and Suzanne Doyle (both Kildare-Newbridge MD), cllr Seamie Moore (Naas MD) and cllr Darragh Fitzpatrick (Clane-Maynooth MD). Speaking to the Kildare Nationalist, cllr Feeney outlined her vision for the committee as an opportunity to ensure that voices from across the county are heard:
“We have one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. And that brings with it fantastic opportunities, but it also brings challenges.
“And, you know, we have a lot of diversity and we want to make sure that everybody’s voice is heard. And I suppose what is exciting about this partnership is it’s exactly that, it’s community-led.”
The Maynooth councillor added that she wants the LCSP to be “output driven” rather than “just a discussion shop”.
A council statement issued after the first meeting stated the LCSP “will now begin the process of identifying priority areas for the county”.
Cllr Feeney elaborated explaining how she asked all representatives present at the meeting what their priority would be with regard to a safety plan for the county:
“The drugs issue came up quite a bit. Domestic violence came up quite a bit. And then people feeling safe – representatives from the residents association members were there - people feeling safe and older people feeling safe in their communities (was outlined as a priority).”
Media access to the LCSPs has proved a contentious issue nationally with counties adopting different approaches. Before the first Kildare meeting, it was decided that all but one of the meetings will be held in private this year.
The local authority said that this is “in line with the national guidelines”. The national guidelines say that “consideration” should be given to holding meetings in private for the first year apart from one public meeting.
When pressed on the matter, cllr Feeney noted “the sensitivities of some of the areas that we will be talking about” and expressed her view that it is best to hold the meetings in private until there is something “tangible” to present, with the committee only at the draft stage of the safety plan currently.
The councillor also mentioned the inexperience of some members as a factor. She stressed the importance of public input in the work of the LCSP and expressed an openness to the prospect of there being more than one public meeting a year in future.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
