Public parks, greenways, cycleways, play areas and poorly lit streets have all been identified as places in Co Monaghan where woman and young girls feel unsafe. The issue of women’s safety was the theme of a major conference organised by the Monaghan Public Participation Network in Monaghan Town’s Hillgrove Hotel on Thursday morning last (see report inside). Survey findings from the conference fed into the annual public meeting of Co Monaghan’s Joint Policing Committee at the same venue on Thursday afternoon and led to calls for a major planning rethink in the county when it came to the design of public spaces.
The improvement of the strength of public lighting in urban locations across the county was also advocated. In a presentation to the JPC meeting which expanded on themes explored in the earlier conference, Monaghan Co Council Community Development Officer Carol Lambe said that among the ways in which the local authority could contribute to the safety of women were by considering issues of equality and unconscious bias when developing its policies, plans, schemes and strategies, and by considering the female perspective when designing public spaces, recreational amenities and housing estates. The local authority also had roles to play in providing emergency housing for domestic abuse victims, encouraging and empowering women to participate in politics and ensuring they…
