‘Security’ issues hold up Blayney CCTV

The cameras are installed, and the infrastructure is in place, but “security” concerns over the proposed location of recording equipment at Lough Muckno Park are unexpectedly delaying the commissioning of Castleblayney’s new community CCTV system.

The issue arose following an updated security report submitted by the newly appointed Garda Crime Prevention Officer (CPO) for the area, which deemed the planned recording equipment storage facility at Lough Muckno Park now “inadequate".

Elected members of the Carrickmacross-Castleblayney MD were briefed on the troubling development when they met earlier this week, Monday, December 15, at Castleblayney Library.

The approved CCTV scheme for Castleblayney includes two circuits- at Castleblayney town centre and Lough Muckno Park - with equipment to be housed in the machinery yard building next to Castleblayney urban car park and in a locked communications cabinet beside Lough Muckno playpark.

The council executive received formal notification of the scheme’s approval at the end of November. However, correspondence from An Garda Síochána stated that the application cannot progress until the security concerns are addressed.

The local authority had hoped to appoint a suitably qualified contractor to commission the system in early 2026, but the executive is now working to resolve the current impasse.

Senior Area Engineer for the MD, Damien Thornton, acknowledged the disappointment shared by councillors, stating the issue had “only come up of late".

Everything, he said, had been “deemed appropriate” until this latest assessment.

That the two sites were both considered suitable to house CCTV recording equipment is something that “has now changed.”

Fine Gael's Aidan Campbell described the development as “peculiar,” while Fianna Fáil's PJ O'Hanlon lamented the eight years the town has waited for the planned CCTV scheme to be green-lighted, during which time there have been six Ministers for Justice.

Cllr O'Hanlon noted that the local MD had regularly written to the department seeking updates and an urgent review of the community CCTV scheme nationally. Applications for the Castleblayney and Carrickmacross schemes were submitted prior to the introduction of the An Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023, and he said of the past letters: “We may as well have been sending them to the moon for all the good they did.”

With progress now made, he fully credited the role played by Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan in advancing the project since January 2025, and also that of newly appointed Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, who took over from the now-retired Drew Harris at the start of September.

“It took a change of commissioner to get this over the line,” remarked Sinn Féin's Colm Carthy.

He added that it was “scary” that the past Garda Commissioner might have had a hand in delaying the rollout of systems across the country, where the argument was over who the data controller would be .

The discussion regarding CCTV was the focus of a motion tabled by MD Chair Paul Gibbons (SF), who welcomed that the scheme for Carrickmacross was now “over the line.”

The focus for Castleblayney, he said, must now shift to figuring out how best to secure the recording equipment at Muckno Park.

The system was designed to enhance safety and security for residents and local businesses, while supporting An Garda Síochána in preventing and addressing anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Campbell seconded the motion, criticising the impact data protection regulations (GDPR) had in holding up the national rollout of such schemes. His worry now was that the CCTV infrastructure currently in place, there since the days of the now-defunct Town Council, might need upgrading.

His comments were supported by Peter Conlan (FG).

Despite the setback, Noel Keelan (SF) told the meeting it was important “not to lose sight” of why CCTV is needed.

“It's about crime prevention in the first instance,” he said. “And crime detection after that.”

He said that local businesses are “suffering” as a result of being targetted by theft, and it was his belief that CCTV, once operational, could play a crucial role in helping to “root that out".

Additional CCTV schemes for Ballybay and Clones are currently in the early stages of consultation and planning between Monaghan County Council and An Garda Síochána.