Troll sculpture fire prompts calls to report vandalism
By Brendan Grehan
USERS of Griffeen Valley Park have been urged to report incidents of vandalism. The call went out at a recent Lucan area committee meeting of South Dublin Council and follows a major incident of criminal damage in the park last month.
On June 10 last the troll sculpture in the park was set on fire.
At the meeting, Councillor Ed O’Brien put down a motion asking the Chief Executive “to review security measures in and around the playground at Griffeen Valley Park following a recent incident of anti-social behaviour which has caused severe damage to part of the playground.”
The Council replied: “Dublin Fire Brigade responded to an incident in Griffeen Valley Park during the night of Sunday, June 10.
"They attended a small localised fire which damaged a wooden sculpture of a Troll. There was no damage to other items of play equipment.
"The sculpture is being examined to see if it can be restored. As the damage was localised, the park and playground remain open.”
The Council said that providing high fencing does not act as a significant deterrent to vandalism.
They added: “The old playground had a high fence around it and it provided very little security to deter entry. Similarly people enter the skatepark even when it is locked, despite the high fence.
“The hockey pitches have a six-metre-high fence which is regularly vandalised to gain entry. The exercise equipment on the other hand was installed without any boundary fencing and it is not normally subject to any vandalism.”
Committed to keeping them open
They asked park users to report any vandalism to the council.
The Council said: “The Council has made a huge commitment to providing high-quality play facilities across the county in recent years and we are committed to keeping them open and operational.”
