The bag found during the clean-up, (Right)The needles in the bag
Handbag full of needles found hanging on a school fence
A school principal was “shocked” as a handbag full of needles was found hanging on the school fence during a community clean-up.
During their Tidy Towns route on Wednesday, June 25, Tallaght Community Council found a bag full of drugs-related material by St Dominic’s National School.
“I’m shocked to hear that drug use is happening so close to our kids. We have 400 students enrolled, it is obviously very concerning,” said St Dominic’s NS Principal Séamus Vaughan.
He said he wasn’t aware of any drug-related danger in the immediate surroundings of his school, but that he will join TCC in their call for a “greater effort to take care of the area around the Charles O’Toole Bridge.”
“This comes weeks after finding needles at the PTSB bank and in the flowerbed on Main Street,” said TCC in a statement.
“It corresponds exactly with the areas we have been calling out as a hot spot for drug-dealing and drugs misuse in recent months.
“To date, the confidential drugs poster campaign we requested has not happened, we have been unable to get a meeting with the Gardai, or get any response from the Housing team in SDCC.”
Following the findings, TCC contacted all relevant authorities again, including Garda representatives, local TDs and councillors, Government departments and SDCC management.
“To say that the community feels utterly ignored is putting it mildly,” the voluntary group wrote.
TCC who mentioned specific housing estates in the village where tenants have serious addiction issues, said the perception that it’s only about one individual is “way off beam.”
“The same group gather and loiter around New Bancroft and Village Green every day,” they concluded, calling for urgent action to address such anti-social behaviour while providing the right support to the community.
