COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, June 27, 2022

QUESTION NO.

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

"To ask the CEO to confirm recent actions he has taken to ensure that Sean Walsh Park is safe for all park users and will he include in his report details of contacts he has maintained with the Gardai in the matter and also confirm if he now plans to provide public information sinage as raised by this member at the April meeting and will he make a statement?"

REPLY:

As previously reported a meeting took place on site in Sean Walsh park on Wednesday April 20th between Public Realm management and Tallaght Community Gardai to discuss issues of anti-social behaviour in the park.  Meetings take place on a regular basis between Council supervisory staff and the community gardai, as stated previously a good working relationship has been built up between Council staff and the community policing division in Tallaght over the years and this will continue to be case.    The view of the Gardai is that the park is in general used by law-abiding citizens for legitimate purposes and that it is a safe place to go for members of the public. The Gardai have made reference to the fact that they are dealing with similar issues of anti-social behaviour and illegal use of scramblers in many other locations around the county.  On the day of the on-site meeting in April the park was full of people, some using the park for recreation and others passing through between the Old Bawn Estates and the Square shopping centre. 

A number of specific incidents were discussed with the Gardai and a number of locations were examined and discussed, and the views of the Gardai were sought as to what could be done in relation to these issues.   In general they are of the view that more lighting and more cctv would assist them in their work however they accept that providing lighting in a park location is not always possible.  They are also aware of the GDPR requirements in relation to community cctv systems. The location of the serious assault which took place on March 18th in the park was examined and discussed.  The Gardai are of the view that improved visibility and lighting in this particular area, at the top of the hill close to the 'blue bridge', might help to avert an attack at this location in the future.   The footpath from the blue bridge down to the roundabout and entrance to Old Bawn Community School is the only route through the park that is currently lit, an undertaking was given to examine this area to establish if the existing lighting on the pathway could be augmented to provide some degree of lighting on the hill as this might act as a deterrent to someone taking cover in the trees and bushes at the top of the hill.  There is cctv coverage in this area and the Council also gave an undertaking to examine the quality of footage that this system provides as well as the extent of coverage of the cameras.  These suggestions from the Gardai are currently being examined, the work to clear back some of the growth at the top of the hill will be scheduled for September when the Wildlife Act prohibition ends.

The incident which occurred on Good Friday April 15th was also discussed, where a small child was run down and seriously injured by a motorbike in the park.  The Gardai advised that this had been reported as a scrambler incident but that it was in fact an electric bike which had the appearance of a scrambler that was involved in the incident.  They advised that cctv footage was examined in relation to the incident but that the people who were responsible had their faces covered at the time and had not been identified.   A discussion took place regarding this incident and the general issue of scramblers accessing public parks.  The new road traffic/criminal justice legislation which is awaited is expected to strengthen the hand of the Gardai in dealing with the illegal use of scramblers in a public place, however it is also expected to regularise and legalise the operation of e-bikes and e-scooters in public places.    The Gardai are in favour of controls such as kissing gates on accesses to public parks but they are also aware of the different views that exist on this matter, where many believe that parks should have universal access for all.  The majority of accesses to Sean Walsh Park are controlled however this is not the case at the blue bridge or at the entrance to the park at the Old Bawn Road/N81 junction.   

The suggestion regarding public information signage which was raised at the April meeting of the area committee is being progressed at the present time.