Drugs hurting reputation
THE HOT WEATHER has lead to an increase in street drinking and drug use.
Cllr Anthony Connick asked if drinking bye laws can be enforced. ‘ We have to look at this, especially for New Ross. We have a handful of people who are causing absolute consternation in this town by drinking from early in the day right through to night time.’
Cllr Connick said some of the individuals have been calling to people’s doors looking for either drink or money. ‘ The gardaí talk to them and they are back in the alleyway 20 minutes later. This is costing the council a fortune in cleaning up bag loads of cans. Why aren’t the gardaí dealing with this?’
A call was made by Cllr Michael Sheehan for a HSE representative to attend a meeting to discuss ways to address the problem of drug and alcohol abuse in the New Ross area.
Cllr Willie Fitzharris said public drinking reflects badly on the town. ‘A lot of people are working very hard to bring people into town and into businesses here. It’s extremely disappointing. The gardaí have been notified and they tend to ignore them. I think we should have a zero tolerance approach. There are businesspeople paying rates. It’s just not acceptable.
‘We all know there are a handful of culprits but it’s not good enough when we are trying to get tourists into town. We have a beautiful boardwalk and to see someone panned out on cheap beer doesn’t look good.’