South Dublin County’s playgrounds and play spaces support children’s wellbeing, development, recreation and social interaction. The play strategy, The Nature of Play, sets ambitious targets. Provision has grown from nine playgrounds in 2015 to more than 80 active play spaces, including ten added in 2026. The Council has also invested in teen spaces, multi-use games areas (MUGAs), outdoor gyms, artificial grass pitches, calisthenics areas and pump tracks.

More than 100 recreational sites are provided, most open 24 hours a day and used safely by thousands of families daily. Park ranger patrols have increased in recent years to help keep parks safe and welcoming.

The customer contact system has no dedicated category for anti-social behaviour at playgrounds, so a comprehensive breakdown is unavailable. It does record reported graffiti and vandalism in parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities.

Against the scale of current play provision, recorded incidents are relatively low and generally isolated. The available data does not establish a trend in anti-social behaviour at playgrounds. Reported graffiti and vandalism incidents are shown below.

These customer contact figures cover reports to the Council, not all anti-social behaviour. Criminal or public order incidents may instead be reported to An Garda Síochána.

The 17 reports in 2026 formed part of 80 graffiti and vandalism reports across the wider public realm, including bus stops, fences, bridges, laneways, boundary walls and signage. The data does not suggest that play spaces are disproportionately targeted.

To help prevent incidents, we carefully select sites for play spaces and use robust equipment and natural surfaces such as grass, sand and woodchip rather than more flammable rubber and plastic. Teams inspect every play facility daily, alongside regular independent safety checks; most maintenance involves wear-and-tear repairs, bin emptying and routine cleaning. Not every incident is formally reported, but the available evidence indicates that incidents are relatively infrequent.