Flowers and personal items being stolen from graves in County Kildare cemetery

Flowers and personal items were taken from a cemetery in south Kildare.

Thai has prompted a call for a CCTV system to be put in place to monitor activity at St Michael’s Cemetery in Athy.

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It came from Cllr Mark Leigh, who said the thefts are "deeply disturbing and heartbreaking."

He told an Athy Municipal District meeting that one family believes it was specifically targeted.

He said he was asking that CCTV be installed to help preserve dignity and respect at the location.

“There have been a lot of complaints (and) we should act,” he stated.

However Kildare County Council has resisted the call ,pointing out that there is no guarantee that this would solve the problem because a system could not cover the entire cemetery.

KCc said it is not resolutely opposed to the proposal but it would be very expensive and other ways of dealing with the issues should first be explored.

In a report to the meeting, KCC official Ken Kavanagh said while CCTV in cemeteries might assist to deter vandalism and help with security, there are valid reasons to be cautious about its deployment.

These include privacy concerns for mourners, potential technical issues and costs,

and the possibility that CCTV may not be effective for all types of crime, particularly spontaneous acts.

He noted cemeteries are places of quiet reflection and grief. The presence of cameras, even if intended for security, can be intrusive and disruptive to the privacy of those visiting loved ones.

Mr Kavanagh also said there are data protection considerations when installing CCTV systems, including the need for transparency, secure storage of footage, and compliance with data protection laws.

CCTV systems record personal data (eg images of people), which is subject to data protection laws particularly GDPR. Maintaining and securing this data, and ensuring transparency in its use is complex and costly.

“It is also mandatory to demonstrate that CCTV is necessary to achieve the desired outcome, and that there are no alternative solutions that do not collect individuals’ personal data by recording individuals’ movements on a continuous basis.

Measures would also have to be put in place to ensure that CCTV recordings are safe and secure both technically and organisationally.”