People urged to respect their area after recent vandalism
By Mary Dennehy
A COMMUNITY message has been issued to young people to respect their area and the facilities that have been provided for them by their community, with recent vandalism pushing a local GAA club off their pitches again.
In recent weeks, two community facilities in the Killinarden area were damaged and left unusable.
A fire in at one of the pitches
Killinarden is a vibrant community, built into what it is by local residents and their volunteering efforts.
However, recent activity has undone a lot of hard work invested into the community, unraveling important local supports at a cost to those living in the area.
Over lockdown, the astro pitches at Killinarden Community Centre were damaged at a cost to its Youth Project.
Taking to Facebook, the Killinarden Community Centre youth project team said: “Killinarden Community Centre built and manage the astro pitches at the back of the centre so that young people of the area have a safe, local place to play football on.
“During Covid-19 lockdown the pitches were used and destroyed, resulting in more damage that costs the Youth Project vital money to fix.
Rubbish dumped on the all-weather pitch
“Thankfully two local lads helped us out… and started with a clean-up.
“Please, please respect your own area, these are your pitches, keep them clean and safe.”
Two weeks previous, in a separate incident, Croi Ro Naofa’s two pitches were vandalised only days after the club committee cleaned up the area.
The pitch marking torn up on the all-weather pitch
Speaking with The Echo, club chair Tommy Clinton said that hundreds of glass bottles were smashed across the pitches and a bonfire lit in the middle.
Tommy stressed that this vandalism not only affects the club and its members, but the community as a whole.
The destruction of Killinarden Park has also created a risk to local families due to the volume of smashed glass, with Tommy also issuing an important message to parents after a number of nitrous oxide or ‘silver bullets’ were found among the debris.
South Dublin County Council attended to the pitches and cleared all of the unbroken bottles.
Material including bottles left on the pitch
However, according to Tommy, the pitches are still littered with tiny pieces of smashed glass, which are proving difficult to remove.
“In fairness to the council, they have been great and came straight up and removed all of the unbroken bottles but you’d need a hoover or something to get up all of the broken bits”, Tommy said.
“Our pitches are currently unplayable.
“We’re back training at the end of the month, but have nowhere to train.”
However, in true Tallaght style, locals have not allowed the actions of a few to dampen community spirit.
Just as a number of young people helped to clean and re-instate the astro facilities at Killinarden Community Centre, volunteers gathered last Saturday to help clean in around the stream at Killinarden Park.
Members of Croi Ro Naofa joined last Saturday’s clean-up with volunteers from Tallaght Litter Mugs, Dodder Action, Dodder Valley Litter Mugs, Tallaght Tidy Towns, South Dublin Environmental Network and local politicians, Cllr Alan Edge and Deputy Sean Crowe, to clean in and along the river in Killinarden Park.
Members of Killinarden Community Centre and the Killinarden Angling Initiative also volunteered on the day, which was filmed for a segment on RTE news.
While volunteers were unable to clean the pitches at Killinarden Park due to the danger posed by the small pieces of smashed glass, some 55 bags of rubbish was removed from in and around the stream.
While general waste, such as electrical devices, car parts, bikes, was collected, volunteers told The Echo that oxide cannisters were also found in the short stretch of stream they focused on.
South Dublin County Council collected the rubbish.
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