“AS women we adjust our route, we adjust our behaviour, we carry our keys in our hands, we make sure our phone is in our hands, we pretend to be talking to someone, all to feel safe so we can feel prepared to hopefully get home safely.”
This, according to Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely, is how women act on the city’s streets as they consider taking the long way home instead of the short cut because of bad lighting and feelings of unease.
Cllr Kiely made the comment at this Monday’s meeting of Limerick City and County Council (LCCC), during a debate on funding for discretionary funding for additional street lighting,
The City East representative raised the issue of the Railway Bridge on Childers Road at the meeting in County Hall, asking the local authority to consider addressing it under its funding model.
“It is an incredibly dark area on a well-used walking route. Lighting is paramount in deterring anti-social behaviour. If a street, lane, or dark area is well lit, the opportunity for anti-social behaviour is diminished significantly,” she said.
Cllr Kiely also believes that passive surveillance gives people confidence that, if something should occur, an intervention is possible.
“The road well travelled isn’t always the safest, especially for women. This has been discussed many times at the Limerick Women’s Caucus,” she said.
“How many people in the chamber have to consider taking the long way instead of the short way because of bad lighting – probably all the women in the room.”
The Fine Gael woman called for a policy to ensure safety and urged the council to address dark spaces and no-go areas.
“The Department of Transport give funding to ensure low cost safety measures are put in place,” Cllr Kiely told the Limerick Post. “My county colleague Cllr Stephen Keary pointed out that lighting should come in under such schemes.”
“When your mother, daughter, niece, grandmother, or aunt walk alone, do you worry for their safety? If the answer is yes, you are not alone.
“Let’s light up Limerick and make it a bright 2024 for everyone’s safety, not just for women,” she concluded.
