Waterford Council says it may have to change its bye-laws to be able to deal with a preacher in Waterford City Centre.
A man with a microphone and speaker regularly appears in the middle of John Roberts Square imposing his beliefs on shoppers.
Sinn Fein Councillor Jim Griffin says he has received a large number of complaints. He said he went to the area and saw the Preacher shouting
all types of things to people walking through the city centre. He asked if the Gardai could patrol it or is there a bye law that the council can enact.
District Manager Fergus Galvin says both Gardai and council hands are tied at present. He said there is a question as to whether the current bye laws
apply to a public road and they need to identify a person to serve a notice on them. The man in question he said has not been identified as he refuses to give any details of
his name and address.
He says the local authority can't force anyone to reveal their name and address. The Council is now going to revisit the bye laws and will speak to Gardai to try and come up
with some kind of action plan to deal with cases like this.
