Chip shop has doorman

And the meeting in the Marine Hotel in the town heard that police have raised the issue of takeaways closing earlier in the hope that it will encourage weekend revellers to leave the area.

The debate centres on the Diamond area of the town where there has been some disturbances in recent months especially when large groups have gathered in the early hours at weekends.

Inspector Bryan Hume of Ballycastle PSNI said getting takeaways to close earlier has worked in other areas like Cookstown, Dungannon and Portrush and he said under such a scheme closures could be pegged back to 1am.

He said he was interested to see if such a scheme could work on a voluntary basis in Ballycastle.

But the Sinn Fein Chairperson of Moyle Council, Cllr Cara McShane, said forcing a business to lose trade would be "bending over to mob rule".

Cllr Madeline Black (SDLP) said one takeaway in Ballycastle has a "door man" to control the number of people let into the premises and the business owner has acted very responsibly.

Independent councillor Seamus Blaney said it is important to point out that trouble is happening in the Diamond area and not outside any particular establishments.

PSNI Chief Inspector John Magill said business people in the area are very supportive of police efforts and he agreed it is wrong to highlight any particular premises.

In answer to a question by Ulster Unionist councillor Willie Graham, Chief Inspector John Magill said that on one occasion when there was trouble at the Diamond in recent times one of the police crews due to have been in the area got delayed when they made arrests in connection with a drugs investigation.

Independent member of the DPP, Michael Molloy, said the arrival of CCTV in the Diamond was given a "great fanfare" in the past and he wondered how effective it has been.

Inspector Hume said CCTV has helped with arrests in the area but he said monitoring from the Police Station will improve the situation.

He said the cameras have also helped to show a person was not guilty of an offence they were being accused of.

Meanwhile, Cllr Cara McShane claimed people are being put off from coming to Ballycastle because of trouble on the streets.

She said she was aware of individuals who were wary about coming to Ballycastle because of media reports of the violence and yet when one such person did come their vehicle fell victim to vandals.

Cllr McShane said something "really pro-active" is necessary to change the situation and prosecutions are needed and a more positive image of Ballycastle needs to be cultivated.

Moving to the area around the town's seafront, one member of the public told the meeting: "You are nearly safer walking round the streets of Baghdad than you are in Ballycastle."

Inspector Hume disagreed with that assessment and he said although there was an assault on an elderly man he insisted the town is safe both day and night.

But the man claimed you could not safely walk along the seafront in Ballycastle after 9pm.

Meanwhile, Inspector Hume said "50 to 60 per cent of trouble-makers" in Ballycastle currently have bail conditions like night-time curfews and bans on being in pubs or drinking alcohol.

He said police received so many reports about the presence of a group of young people who were causing problems last year in Ballycastle the group involved "nearly thought we had GPS on them".