GAA Club may disband over players safety issue

A LOCAL GAA club committee, which has repeatedly called for a fenced-in pitch in Killinarden Park in a bid to stop ongoing issues with anti-social behaviour, claim they have “not been listened to” by South Dublin County Council and that they may disband.

Croí Ró Naofa GAA Club, which is based in Killinarden Park, said in a statement that they currently “do not have a safe environment for the children and adults of Killinarden Parish to play Gaelic games”.

As previously reported in The Echo, Killinarden Park has been the site of numerous instances of anti-social behaviour. A total of 84 cars have been burnt out in the park since 2018.

The use of scrambler and quad bikes in the park are a regular occurrence, and volunteers from the club routinely have to remove broken glass and drug paraphernalia, including used syringes, from the pitches.

The club now requires a garda presence every Saturday morning in the park so the children in their academy can safely train.

Croí Ró Naofa submitted a proposal outlining plans for a fenced-in pitch, extending from Sacred Heart National School into the park, to the council during the public consultation process for the planned €2m upgrade of Killinarden Park.

However, the council deemed the fencing off of a portion of Killinarden Park for a pitch an “unsuitable project” for a public park, according to the GAA Club.

Instead, at last week’s monthly council meeting, the local authority presented a proposal for raised pitches in the park, surrounded by a natural boundary, which was approved by a majority of councillors.

When asked about placing fences around pitches, speaking at last week’s council meeting, Teresa Walsh from the council said she believed people engaging in anti-social behaviour could see fences as “a challenge” and it was her view that, if they were to be installed, “they will be down within minutes”.

In a statement released on Wednesday morning, following a committee meeting the previous evening, the club said that they wanted to thank Cllr Dermot Richardson (SF), Cllr Carly Bailey (SD) and the Fine Gael group for voting against the approval of the plans. The club added: “We feel that the current plan to elevate our pitch and put in a natural boundary will not work. Croí Ró Naofa GAA club have not been listened to.

“The new redevelopment plan will not provide us with a safe environment.

“Since 2018, we have endured 84 burnt out cars, daily excursions of scramblers and quads, broken glass around our goalposts and drug paraphernalia.

“No other GAA club on the island has had to deal with the problems we have had to deal with since 2018.

“We have played very few games at home in the last three years, in some cases the club has had to hire buses to bring juvenile teams to play matches away at great cost to our club.

“We have lost juvenile teams and mentors to this anti-social behaviour and intimidation towards them.

“The club has been part of the Killinarden community over the last twenty-one years, bringing numerous children through the club.

“It was discussed last night that the club may disband after twenty-one years of serving our community as we don’t have a safe environment for children and adults to take part in Gaelic games.”

At last week’s council meeting, Teresa Walsh from the council said the council would meet with Croí Ró Naofa members and elected members about concerns in relation to the raised pitches.

However, according to Croí Ró Naofa’s statement this week, the council has not met with them “in months”.

The Echo asked the council this week whether the club had been consulted in relation to SDCC’s plans for the raised pitches and the natural boundary, and if they had been in contact with the club in recent weeks about the ongoing issues with anti-social behaviour.

In response, a council spokesperson said: “The Echo covered this in last week’s edition complete with the Part 8 coming from the July Council meeting.

“All details can be found in there and we haven’t progressed this to detailed design yet so have no further updates to give.”

At last week’s meeting, the local authority said they will continually review and monitor the park during and after the installation of the upgrade works, which will be carried out on a phased basis.