Madam, – A newspaper reports that in our block there is a notice asking residents to immediately call the Garda Síochána if their property is vandalised around our block.
To date, we in Cardy Rock had viewed this as a local issue. Dominic McGowan (the constituent on whose behalf Trevor Sargent made representations to gardaí, Front page, February 25th) is one of the more active people in our residents’ association.
Over the past number of years, we have built relations with the community gardaí, Fingal County Council and more recently the Community Policing Forum.
The issue of vandalism has been an ongoing one in the estate. Fingal County Council and local agencies responsible for developing services for young people have failed to respond to their needs. In our estate, there is no green area for children to play and no area for young people to hang out. Given the structure of the estate, they tend to gravitate towards the centre of the estate.
Vandalism that arises from boredom is obviously a cause for distress and grievance on the part of residents in this estate. The media drama currently centres on “whodunnit” in relation to the leaked letters. The Garda Commissioner has announced that there will be an investigation into all matters relating to the case. We await the outcome with interest.
A real and meaningful outcome to this case is not the resignation of Trevor Sargent. Rather it is in the building of facilities to meet the needs of communities. In addition to vandalism, we also have a problem at the junction to our estate. In the initial plan for the estate back in 2002, traffic lights and proper footpaths were meant to be laid at the junction of the main road out of Balbriggan, at Hamlet Lane. Instead, because of footdragging, not so much by Fianna Fáil or the Green Party (although they have responsibility), but at council level and in their dealings with developers of north Balbriggan.
Next to our estate, we are witness to the most painfully slow development of Bremore Castle which has potential as both a tourist amenity and also as an amenity for locals. Instead, its grounds remain an eyesore to passersby, while kids in local estates lack the facilities they need for their free time.
Developers packed apartments and houses together without allowing for space for children and others to enjoy. The result is boredom and associated nascent vandalism that tries the patience of good residents and which leads to such events as those reported on in the past few days.
We have good people living in our estate. We have an active residents’ association that tries to get its voice heard by politicians and agencies to ensure services are developed to meet the needs of the area. Last year, 45 households attended the launch of our Neighbourhood Watch scheme and scores of residents and their kids participate in estate clean-ups.
Meanwhile, parents cannot walk their kids to school up Hamlet Lane because there is no footpath. Many cars have been smashed at the junction of our estate over the past number of years because of the lack of traffic lights.
There has been little or no thought given to the development of community facilities while 5,000 houses have been built in the past number of years. Three full-time youth workers in a town of 18,000 is not enough to meet these needs.
Finally, I think it would be a poor show if the message sent out to ordinary people around the country were that you cannot make a representation to the parents of a child for fear of what might happen.
The solution is in looking to the community to promote safety and active citizenship. – Yours, etc,