COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, May 24, 2021

MOTION NO. 2

MOTION: Councillor T. Costello

To ask the Chief Executive in light of the damage to TRFC pitch on Saturday 8th May where a car was burned out on the pitch, has an investigation be undertaken and what measures have been taken to ensure that this will not happen again and can the pitch be repaired asap".

REPORT:

The incident referred to here has been investigated by the Council's Public Realm Section however it has not been possible to determine exactly how the car got access to the park.  The Gardai have been contacted about the matter as there were reports that the car in question was being driven around the local area earlier the same day, however the Gardai could not provide any useful information in this regard. 

The park boundaries and entrances were examined following the incident and no sign of any kind of forced entry to the park was found.   The incident took place in that section of the park which lies between the basketball arena road and the entrance road from Castletymon Road into the main car park and the operations depot.  Fencing work carried out in the past year along the basketball arena road has secured that area and made it not possible to gain access to the parkland from that road. A report was received that the Limekiln gate was open that weekend, this was examined however and found not to be the point of entry as the car park is separated from the park proper by a 1.2m high stone wall.   

It is possible to gain access to the public car park at Castletymon and to the depot and staff car park during park opening hours.  It is also possible to turn off the depot entrance road and onto the footpaths which are on either side of the playground, and it is believed that this is what took place on this occasion.  The stolen car was most likely brought into the park during normal opening hours, kept out of sight while the park remained open to the public and while the park rangers were still on duty, and then driven around the park after the gates closed.  It should be noted that the park remains open for a period of time after the park rangers go off duty.  The vehicular entrances to the park at Castletymon, Limekiln and Willington all open and close on an automated mechanism at predetermined times and this is to maximise the time available to members of the public wishing to use the park.

The arrangements in place for opening and closing the park will be examined in light of the incident of May 8th.  Consideration will also be given to implementing additional measures to prevent access to parkland by closing off areas such as the footpaths beside the playground as mentioned above.  The measures implemented at the basketball arena road appear to be very effective and are very much in keeping with the style of the park and these could be copied in other locations.

Arrangements are in place to have the necessary repairs carried out.  Replacement goalposts are now in place and it is expected that sodding will be carried out to repair the damage to the pitch itself during the coming week.