Chaos reigns at Corkagh Park when gates malfunction and visitors are locked inside
By Maurice Garvey
AUTOMATED gates malfunctioned at Corkagh Park for close to an hour-and-a-half, locking visitors in and causing “chaotic scenes”, according to one eye witness.
Sean Dervan went to the park on Sunday morning (July 28) with his daughter, who is in training for her college scholarship to the USA.
Corkagh Park gates malfunctioned
Mr Dervan says they parked in the Camac Valley car park and his daughter went for a five-mile run.
He first discovered a problem at 8.45am, when someone asked him if he knew how to open the gate to get back out of the car park.
“I rang the South Dublin County Council support number, someone answered and advised I call the security company,” said Mr Dervan, a Kilteel resident.
“I called the security company and they said both guys on duty were out attending alarms. What happens if an ambulance needed to get in?
“The only way to describe what happened next was chaotic. People trying to get in were conflicting with people trying to get out. Cars were forced to double park on the side of the road. There was a bewildered look on the faces of the Germans and other tourists. One car tried to drive over a kerb, onto a big mound and out another gate, but that was locked too.”
Eventually a park ranger showed up at 10am for the start of his shift, and opened the gate with a key.
A spokesperson for SDCC said the “exact details of the recent malfunction of the gate are not known at this time.”
“However the council’s contractor/service provider has been asked to examine the system to identify the fault and to rectify it.”
SDCC said the gate was automated earlier this year to facilitate early opening and later closing hours.
“The gate should open around 7.30am on a time setting and remain open. If the gate closes in the evening and locks cars into the car park, then there are instructions posted in the car park to ring the council’s out-of-hours number. The out-of-hours operator should be able to open the gate remotely without needing to go to the park to physically open the gate.”
Mr Dervan said his daughter was due in work at 10am.
“Instead of going home for a shower, she had to change in the car after a five-mile run, and walk to work in The Happy Pear. She is only 19 and didn’t want to be late for her summer job.
“You have to ask is it worth outsourcing jobs like this?”
