Donegal County Council has been urged to once again explore the provision of unformed park wardens to promote safety in Letterkenny’s town parks.
The call comes after incidents of women and children reportedly being shouted at in the Bernard McGlinchey Town Park.
Councillor Gerry McMonagle has urged the council to look into either employing workers through the community employment scheme, who are already vetted, or part-time gardaí who will have the experience to carry out the role.
Cllr McMonagle said that, after 20 years of requesting wardens, the issue is “on a knife edge”.
The town park has seen a welcome increase in footfall since the pandemic and has received significant investment through the new urban adventure park, alongside the opening of the Cairde le Cheila cafe.
“What is missing here is, with the increased numbers of families and children taking in the benefits of the park, is the park wardens,” Cllr McMonagle told this week’s meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.
“It’s incumbent on us as a council to ensure the safety of the people and that they have a good experience when they are there.”
After raising a motion on the matter, Cllr McMonagle was told that there is no funding available for the introduction of Park Wardens or Park Rangers and the introduction of the role would likely require bye laws to make the role functional.
Cllr McMonagle asked that the idea is not shut down because of financing and that a budget is set aside for a warden, not just in Bernard McGlinchey, but in Ballymacool too.
“We don’t want to keep coming back here requesting this when members of the public are complaining about the experience they have in both parks,” he said.
Cllr McMonagle said the current security measures are not enough, where an external company is contracted to close the park and do a patrol of the park before closure at the end of the day.
“Extension to this contract is being considered to add additional patrols of the park at particular times of the day,” a council spokesperson said.
“Donegal County Council has also met with Gardai and have discussed implementing measures to enhance safety and security in the Town Parks and a request has been forwarded to the Gardai to add more patrols to the Town Parks,” members were told.
“CCTV cameras provide extensive coverage of the main areas of the park and these can be used to follow up if any issues occur. Parks and open spaces staff are present in the parks for the majority of the day.”
