‘Defecating, urinating and copulating’

The Intoxicating Liquor Committee of Cork City Council hasn’t met in more than six years and calls have now been made for it to meet as soon as possible.

It comes as more than 1,500 drunkenness and public order offences have been recorded so far this year by An Garda Síochána in Cork city.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Kenneth O’Flynn said he would like the committee to meet again. It’s not a committee which councillors are paid to be on which he said could be why it hasn’t met in six and half years. He described its lack of meeting as “appalling”.

He said it urgently needs to meet as drinking alcohol on the streets “has gone beyond a joke”.

“I witnessed it myself and drinking on the streets is out of control. We have situations in our city centre where people are defecating, urinating and copulating. We’ve also people acting as vendors of alcohol on the street who shouldn’t be acting as vendors,” he said.

He told the Cork Independent that if the committee meets and decides to erect signs telling people not to drink alcohol in public around drinking hotspots on Leeside, if would be a start to addressing the issue.

During a Joint Policing Committee meeting, new figures about drinking on the street were revealed comparing January-September 2018 and the same months this year. Drunkenness offences have seen a two per cent rise this year in Cork city from 731 to 749 while there’s been an eight per cent decline in public order offences from 870 to 801.