Ballymagorry residents hold meeting on anti-social behaviour

RESIDENTS of Ballymagorry gathered in large numbers last weekend to address growing concerns over anti-social behavior in their community, following the tragic killing of Kyle McDermott.

The meeting, organised by the Brighter Ballymagorry Development Group, drew more than 250 people to Burndennett Cricket Club, with some forced to stand outside due to the large turnout.

Mr McDermott, originally from Burt in Donegal, died following an altercation in the village on Sunday of last week. A 24-year-old man has since been charged with his manslaughter.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Brighter Ballymagorry member, Leslie Hetherington noted a new fear amongst the tight-knit residents in Ballymagorry.

“The entire community are scared; from young to old,” he said.

“It has really upset everyone in the area and it will take time for the community to heal again.”

At the meeting, which was chaired by local man Liam Sweeney and attended by public representatives, residents were told that the Housing Executive will no longer use addresses in Ballymagorry to provide emergency accommodation.

“We were told at the meeting that the Housing Executive had moved certain individuals out of the area,” Mr Hetherington stated.

“We were relieved to hear that they had been moved but there is still a question of why did it happen in Ballymagorry and surrounding areas in the first place?”

While he described the meeting as ‘fairly positive’, independent councillor, Raymond Barr, said that the absence of statutory bodies at the gathering means there remains a lot of questions left unanswered.

“At the meeting there were a lot more questions than answers, and questions that I will be asking statutory bodies myself,” said Cllr Barr.

“We will be requesting that the Housing Executive take part in a round table discussion on the concerns from the meeting.

“Just to put people’s minds at rest, we would need clarification on a few of those issues,” stated Cllr Barr.

Local politicians also met with the PSNI on Friday afternoon to discuss antisocial behaviour in Ballymagorry.

“They reassured us that they were doing their job in terms of policing the area and making sure people were safe and we agreed at that meeting that we would meet up again in the coming weeks to discuss the matter further,” continued Cllr Barr.

Sinn Féin councillor Paul Boggs added, “We made it clear to the PSNI that they must fulfil their duty to ensure residents in this community feel safe. In the strongest terms we told the PSNI that they must work to do all they can to alleviate anti-social behaviour concerns now and into the future”