Thugs use sledgehammer to damage lights and railings
By Mary Dennehy
RESIDENTS in one Tallaght estate have had enough of their area being used as a hang-out and joyriding alley for gangs, who recently reportedly used a sledgehammer to knock out public lighting and damage railings.
For some time, a number of young people, between the ages of 12 and 17, have been using the area along the Whitestown stream in Jobstown as a hang-out, and are also bringing cars into the area.
The area in Jobstown
The issue was raised as far back as 2016 when Sinn Fein councillor Cathal King asked the council to install preventative measures to stop vehicular access to the area.
However, despite a number of measures, including bollards, young people continue to access the area.
One resident told The Echo: “Last week, a number of lads were banging the railings of the bridge that runs over the stream.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure what they were doing, all I can guess is that they were trying to knock the railings down to get some sort of vehicle across.
“They started wacking the polls then and knocked out some of the public lights.”
The resident added: “Every night there is cars up and down there, and last week they were there at 2.15pm in the day…. in broad daylight.
Very disheartening
“It’s a nightmare, residents are contacting the gardai but they don’t respond, it’s very disheartening.
“People also feel intimidated and there’s a lot of people who won’t walk over that bridge, especially if the gangs are hanging around.
“We’re trying to have a nice community up here but are getting no support.”
When contacted by The Echo, Mary Maguire, a senior executive officer with South Dublin County Council, said: “Incursions through boundary treatments is becoming more prevalent throughout certain areas in the county causing damage to public property, and causing extreme stress to residents.
“Public Realm works have been initiated in attempts to combat the problem for example the running of 1.2 metre high fencing along the side of the green space areas, provision of bollards etc. but these have in general proved unsuccessful in stemming the problem.
“We continue to explore opportunities to address the access problems, but regrettably given the scale of this kind of activity, the potential costs of such works countywide cannot be sustained.”
