The second statutory meeting of Cork County Local Community Safety Partnership (CCLCSP) was held on 8th June in the Council Chamber, County Hall.
The meeting was attended by elected members of Cork County Council, the HSE, business, farming, youth and education sectors, and An Garda Síochána, as well as representatives of local residents from across the county through the Cork County Public Participation Network (PPN). It also included representatives from Cork County Older People’s Council, Local Development Companies, Muintir na Tíre and the IFA.
UPDATES PROVIDED
Caroline Casey, Cork County Council’s Road & Water Safety Officer, delivered a presentation on road safety which particularly highlighted the importance of road safety education. This covered working with primary and secondary schools, multi-school events, the use of the European Road Safety Award winning ‘Road Safety Virtual Reality Education model’ and the value in collaborating with the CCLCSP and with Road Safety advocates, to reduce road deaths and injuries. Members raised a number of issues including drink-driving awareness and road safety concerns.
Updates were provided on the Policing & Community Safety Authority meeting which took place in Midleton and was attended by Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly along with other senior officers. The Partnership members were also given an overview of the recent National Office for Community Safety Conference, an outline of funding available to LCSPs and advise that the first DRIVE (Drug Related Intimidation & Violence Engagement) report has been launched.
The Local Community Safety Plan (LCSP) established its first subgroup, chaired by Cllr. Patrick Donovan, which will now commence development of its three-year LCSP. A public consultation process will commence in the coming months to ensure this plan will reflect priorities identified by the community.
LCSPs are being established nationwide and the Cork County LCSP held its inaugural meeting in March 2026. This will help enhance the role of local communities in identifying and resolving safety issues.
Additional working groups will be set up to deal with other issues of concern in relation to community safety across the county. These will be discussed further and finalised at the Partnership’s next meeting in September.
FURTHER MEETINGS
This autumn, the Partnership also intends to hold meetings for elected representatives from County Cork, as well as a meeting which will be open to members to the public.
CCLCSP chairperson, Cllr Cathal Rasmussen commented, “I am looking forward to getting to work with the other members of the partnership in developing the Safety Plan over the coming months. The Committee has a lot of work to do and I welcome the opportunity for this Committee to work with the wider community on meaningful public safety objectives and priorities over the coming period and ensuring that the actions are delivered.”
