A series of so-called "joyriding" incidents in Killarney has concerned gardaí and public representatives.
In one of the most serious incidents of its kind last week, in what is normally a relatively quiet town, five teenagers were taken to hospital when a stolen car they were travelling in crashed near Glenflesk village about six miles from Killarney in the early hours of the morning.
The car was stolen from the Arbutus Grove area, a local authority housing development, and gardaí were notified of the crash at about 4.30 a.m. The car was written off.
Sgt Tom Tobin said that the young people in the car, who were aged between 13 and 17, were fortunate that they had not been seriously injured or killed. Some had been thrown from the car, which had been travelling at high speed.
"We are very concerned that they would kill either themselves or someone else," Sergeant Tobin said yesterday. "It was lucky, too, that they did not meet anyone on the road."
All five were slightly injured and were taken to Tralee General Hospital for treatment.
In a separate incident last Monday, another group of teenagers broke into a house in the Elm Court holiday development, stole the keys of a Honda Civic estate car belonging to Welsh holidaymakers and drove it to Mallow in Co Cork, where they set it alight. The same group of teenagers then stole another car at Mallow railway station, drove back to Killarney and burned the car out on the Dr Crokes football pitch.
Gardaí in Killarney are expected to make arrests shortly in relation to this incident.
A Killarney town councillor, Ms Sheila Dickson, has criticised the lack of facilities in the town for young people.
Cllr Dickson, who is a member of the Killarney Drugs Liaison Committee, said that there had been an increase in the number of car thefts in the area in recent weeks.
"Gardaí will have to warn people that their cars are not safe," she said.
Listing a number of the thefts which had occurred in the town recently, she added: "This needs to be looked into more deeply. We have already had a tragedy with a young girl in a playground in this town. We need facilities for young people."
Cllr Dickson is lobbying for a skateboarding park in Killarney and a public meeting to discuss the provision of this and other facilities for young people is to be held in Killarney this evening.
Other items on the agenda include the possible provision of facilities for BMX bikes and roller-blading which would provide young people with alternatives to anti-social activities.