Call for roving cameras to catch graffiti culprits

A disgusted Athlone resident says graffiti is destroying the town and roving cameras are the only solution to stamp it out.

Tommy Connaughton from Griffith Street was speaking last week after more graffiti was discovered in the laneway at the back of Wolfe Tone Terrace leading into the Dunnes Stores car park, only days after the walls had been painted by a group from Athlone Tidy Towns.

“I'm so disgusted. It's needs to be highlighted. It's terrible wrong, there were 6 or 8 people there from the Tidy Towns on the Wednesday (of last week) painting over the grafitti on the wall and they did a great job.”

By Friday, one of the walls was covered again in graffiti, he complains, saying residents are really annoyed about it.

“The only answer as I see it is hidden cameras or movable cameras then you'll pick them up somewhere.

“Someone will have to do something or otherwise our town will be destroyed,” he claims.

“Athlone Tidy Towns do great work and six to eight people gave their free time (to paint the wall) and to see this happening two days later is shocking,” adds Tommy, who says nearby residents try to keep the area looking well and to see this happening again and again is soul destroying.

A lot of elderly residents sit out along The Strand during the day for a chat, and they were disgusted by the latest bout of graffitti in the area.

Meanwhile, Gerry Johnson from Athlone Tidy Towns confirms they had power washed and painted the wall with the permission of the owner to get rid of some offensive graffiti on the Wednesday of last week, but unfortunately, it was hit by more graffiti on the Friday.

A group went down on Saturday and painted the wall with some anti-graffiti paint so that at least if it is targeted again, the graffiti won't penetrate and it can be power washed off, he explains.

A group has also been busy painting another wall covered in graffiti in Garrycastle recently.

He paid tribute to the volunteers and the many new people who have come on board recently, doing clean ups, planting and keeping their areas clean, saying that “everybody in the town is really rolling up their sleeves” and it's great to see.

While Tommy Connaughton concedes it is “small number of people” who are behind the graffiti problem, he believes it's high time that the council got tough on them and started using cameras to catch them.