Locals said they saw kids dragging bins into the play area
CCFB responds to a fire at Loughmahon Park playground(Image: Blackrock/Mahon Community News)
Cork city does not have an oversupply of safe, well-equipped playgrounds and amenities to keep kids (and parents) occupied during these long summer days – and those that it does have are facing constant acts of vandalism.
In July, we reported on how a new playground just opened in Carrigaline had been hit by vandalism. The park in Carrigaline – affectionately nicknamed ‘Pringle Park,’ after the curved yellow toppers on some of the playground equipment – was opened to the public on July 17 after a major €300,000 refurbishment. The six-figure upgrade was partially funded by private sponsorships and grants, and underpinned by a huge local community effort. Within days of opening, it was vandalised.
Now another city playground has been badly damaged. Last night, a gang of youths were seen dragging refuse bins into the playground at Loughmahon Park in Mahon and setting them alight.
Pictures shared to the popular Blackrock/Mahon Community News Facebook page showed a unit of Cork City Fire Brigade responding to the blaze, after locals raised the alarm at around 8.30pm last night.
One local who contacted CorkBeo at news@corkbeo.ie, asking us to highlight the incident, said; ‘There was a gang of boys and girls, young teens, they climbed into a fenced off area where there’s some council bins and dragged a load of rubbish out to the playground and set fire to it.”
“I saw one or two men tell them off but they didn’t care. It’s disgusting, that’s one of the few places the kids can play safely around here. You’d ask what their parents were doing but you can only imagine what kind of homes they are being reared in, that’s where they learn it.”
Clean-up operations are expected to continue today at the playground, but locals have told CorkBeo that there appear to be ‘zero consequences” for the youths – and their families – as constant antisocial behaviour is plaguing the area.