Councillors have condemned the repeated vandalism of Fairview Park.
Speaking at last night’s meeting of Dublin City Council, Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam said that 125 children have been left without playing facilities after motor vehicles drove onto the pitches.
Local club Sherrif YC use the park and has been left without suitable playing facilities as a result of the vandalism.
On the evening of January 5th and 6th, scramblers and cars accessed Fairview Park and severely damaged the pitches.
Noting that this has become a repeat occurrence, McAdam called on the chief executive of Dublin City Council to intervene and waive any fees involved in restoring the pitch.
“The reason I lodged was to deal with the wider issue of safety in Fairview Park,” McAdam told the meeting.
“We have seen users from Ballybock, North Strand as well as families, and individuals becoming greatly concerned about using the park in terms of motor vehicle access by scramblers, pitches being used as toilets, and the drug paraphernalia being left around.”
McAdam’s motion was backed by Social Democrats Councillor Catherine Stocker, who called on greater co-operation between
She noted that the pitch is in the Clontarf local electoral area, but exists in a proverbial twilight zone between North Central and Central area.
She called on Dublin City Council to make a concerted effort to tackle the issue and for more joined-up thinking with regards to the issue.
Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said that Gardaí should patrol Fairview Park more frequently, while Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan said the issue needs to be rectified as it has happened on numerous occasions.
“We can’t leave the kids who love to use the park and play their football in a situation where cars are going in and wrecking the pitches and stopping from doing that.”
Fianna Fáil’s Keith Connolly said that Gardaí should keep the Council in the loop about their plans to tackle the issue, and the issue should be raised at the next Joint Police Committee.
Independent Councillor Damien O’Farrell concurred this was not an issue for the Council to solve, asserting that it was an issue for the Gardaí to solve.
“It’s lawlessness in the city; people are afraid. It’s a Government issue and a Garda issue.”
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon told the Irish Independent that vandalism of pitches is “something that happens all too frequently”.
“What’s worse is it means the children won’t be able to use that pitch. We are struggling really hard in the inner city to give young people an outlet.”
“It’s someone engaging in criminal damage on a resource of the community and beyond, and the guards won’t investigate; the council will seek to hold nobody to account; it’ll happen again in three weeks’ time,” he remarked.
Daniel Ennis of of the nearby East Wall Bessborough FC said “some of the older kids on the cusp of 12 or 13 find this a joke. Clubs are going to lose members because only want to be kicking a ball around on a cabbage patch for so long. They need better facilities.”