Residents in Mayo estate living in fear due to violent behaviour

A RESIDENT of a housing estate in Castlebar - terrified to give their name - has written to a local councillor highlighting an incident of anti-social behaviour.

And they set out the difficulty of their situation, having to stay in their estate, paying their mortgage, not having the means to move on.

Councillor Michael Kilcoyne read the letter at an online meeting of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee where he told the gardaí and council officials that anti-social behaviour has continued to get worse.

He received the letter on September 16 where the author wrote that they were terrified to give their name as they 'live in fear of those violent and aggressive people'.

The author detailed an incident that occurred on the night of September 11 where what happened on the streets was nothing short of an all out battle, with at least 20 men and women fighting, drinking and shouting.

Bottles were smashed, car windows shattered, and one person smashed the windows of a house.

Gardaí broke it up but it started again when they left. The gardaí were called on a number of occasions.

The author went on to say: 'I do not have the means to move. I must continue to pay a mortgage while these thugs run riot.'

Said Councillor Kilcoyne: "One of the greatest crisis facing people in housing estates in the towns in our areas is anti-social behaviour. They are afraid to go outside the door.

"The local authority is doing nothing on this."

The person who wrote the letter said they had reported it to the local authority but they said they would not be prepared to do anything unless they gave their name and details.

"If you're contacting revenue or social welfare they don't want your name and details," he noted. "Why should it be any different with the local authority."

Councillor Kilcoyne wanted to know if the number of call-outs is continuing to increase and what can be done about it.

Supt. Joe McKenna said in relation to the incident raised in the letter, there had been a number of arrests made.