Woman’s murder sparks calls for safety audit of public spaces

THE tragic death of teacher Ashling Murphy sparked calls for an audit to be carried out of Ennis’ public spaces to ensure they are safe.

This week’s meeting of the Ennis Municipal District heard Councillor Mary Howard urge that the examination be carried out with a focus on lighting levels, footpath conditions and hedgerow maintenance starting with the Fairgreen and Lees Road.

She said she was inspired to propose the motion following the “awful events” of last January in Tullamore when the teacher was killed while out jogging.

“In light of recent events I believe it is important to ensure our public spaces / physical environment are safe,” she said.

The councillor cited a United Nations Women’s Safety Audit as an example of what could be used to determine how safe the local environment is.

“I’m putting this forward because women are asking me to, they just felt some places might be a little bit overgrown? The lighting mightn’t be the best, or the foot surface might not be the best. They asked me, how do we make our town safer? I don’t know if you can ever make it 100% safe, but certainly this is one way forward. It’s important that people feel safe, whether it’s day or night, that places are well lit and paths are cleared.”

She also acknowledged the installation of new seating in Lee’s Road which she said was “very much appreciated”.

Responding to the motion Siobhan McNulty, Senior Executive Engineer, stated, “The team at Active Ennis with our MD and gardening section colleagues inspect facilities regularly to ensure they are maintained at optimum standard.”

The facilities were reviewed again following the motion and a report was presented to the council meeting. The review of Tim Smythe Park found
Pathways – upgrades as funding under the ORIS fund are complete. There is a section of pathway near the grotto and De Valera statue that needs to be upgraded once funding can be secured for same.

Lighting – the lighting around perimeter is sufficient. Future lighting upgrades will focus on internal locations within the park again once funding is secured for such works.

Hedgerows – the gardening section maintain the planting in the park. It is desirable to upgrade the planting scheme to include for greater biodiversity; Street Furniture – it is desirable as funding allows to replace the existing iron benches and picnic tables

At Lees Road: Pathways – works have just been completed today on a number of areas in the woodland where there were issues with pooling water. Other areas will be addressed on a phased basis but the worst affected areas have been addressed. We have costed the installation of a path from the cycle way to the entrance of the woods and will look to deliver this within our current maintenance budget.

Lighting – lighting is considered sufficient for the usage. Currently costing an upgrade of the floodlights to LED’s.

Hedgerows – vegetation along pathways in woodland cut back during growing season. No interventions taken beyond that; Street Furniture -six new bench seats have been installed in the park (two in the open area, four in the woods)

“At all times the team work within available budgets to incrementally upgrade the facilities however larger projects require specific funding sources and external specialist support. In particular there are calls for additional lighting within facilities likely additional lighting will require Part VIII planning permission and the impact of lighting upgrades must be considered with regard to the impact on wildlife and the environment.”

Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy voiced her support for Councillor Howard’s motion, describing the death of Ashling Murphy as “shocking”. She added, “There are a lot of studies that show that when amenities are lit up that women feel safer, and where there is less obstruction from hedgrerows and so on it helps the sense of safety.”

Councillor Johnny Flynn also gave his backing, outlining that all councillors have over the years proposed notices of motion to improve seating in public facilities.

He added that as a member of Active Ennis discussions have been held on the need to improve lighting. The councillor stated that there is a need for improvement to lighting on the Steele’s Terrace side of Tim Smythe Park with “a lot of concern” among older people living on Gort Road Crescent and St Senan’s Road behind Glenina as lights are damaged.

Councillor Pat Daly commented, “I think it’s important that the lighting and the footpaths and the street furniture are all maintained, particularly around Lee’s Road and the Fair Green. He also stressed the importance of keeping the area around the DeValera monument “up to standard”.

Councillor Howard thanked the councillors for her support saying, “I think this is an issue we’ll be keeping an eye on, going forward. It’s something people are quite nervous about. Personal safety has become a big issue over night and I think it’s incumbent on us to do what we can to find any little weak spots that we have within the community and deal with them so people feel safe.”