Council calls special meeting on Kells antisocial behaviour

Residents of a number of Kells estates who have endured countless incidents of antisocial behaviour in recent months have been invited to attend a special meeting of Kells Town Council on Friday evening to discuss the problems in the area. Following a number of further incidents in the Magdalene Court and lower Maudlin Street area over the past week, Kells Town Council cathaoirleach, Cllr Brian Curran, has called a special meeting of the council to which representatives from Magdalene Court, Archdeaconary Glebe and other estates have been invited to attend, along with the Gardai. A meeting for residents of the area took place on Monday night at which people living there spoke of the problems with antisocial behaviour over several months. The most recent incident in the area occurred last Thursday night, when a man produced a knife following earlier incidents in the Magdalene Court estate. According to Garda,i the man had over-reacted to an incident in which youths were causing aggravation in the area. Gardai had to use pepper spray before the man was arrested and he is due to appear in court in Kells next month in connection with the incident. According to Cllr Curran, residents in the area are being intimidated by a gang of youths and incidents in recent weeks have included setting fire to an electricity pole. He said that not all of the youths were from the area and most young people from the locality were not involved in the intimidation. Cllr Curran said people were frightened by the recent events and huge resources were being wasted each week by the fire service and Gardai who have to respond to these incidents.