No playground for Clontarf kids for the foreseeable future
Clontarf kids will have to keep waiting for a long-anticipated playground, as the area is “going to be a bit of a mess for the summer”.
The long-standing saga of getting permanent flood defences installed at Clontarf may not be completed until “post-2033” according to Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney, who is calling for temporary play facilities for the area's children in the interim. But Senior Executive Parks Superintendent Fergus O'Carroll shot down this request, stating it will “not be practical” as Uisce Éireann works will turn the promenade into “a building site”.
In a motion tabled at last week’s North Central Area Committee, Cllr Cooney said that Clontarf has been long recognised as an area bereft of play features and cited a 2022 motion that agreed to possibly integrate their provision into planned flood defence. With no movement on the issue since then, she asked that temporary play features be installed “rather than waiting over another decade when our children will be adults”.
Cllr Cooney had hoped “this generation of children” wouldn’t be left without play interventions and called for moveable, non-permanent facilities, such as table tennis tables, to be installed so there’s at least something there for the children of Clontarf. She stressed “I’m not looking for a playground,” citing issues of anti-social behaviour like frequent arson attacks on Dublin play facilities, but said there should be “little interventions along the route”.
Mr O’Carroll agreed that there is a deficit of play facilities in the Clontarf area and admitted “there’s nothing between Fairview Park and St Anne’s”. “Ideally, the place to put one is right bang in the middle,” he said.
However, Uisce Éireann works have commenced to install a new €25 million water pipeline which means “they’re going to dig up the entire prom between April and September of next year”. He said the area will be “unavailable for any sort of intervention” and that they will be in a much better position “to see what’s feasible” in 2028.
While Cllr Cooney enquired about light interventions that could be removed and replaced again following the provision of flood defences, Mr O'Carroll stressed that it wouldn’t be appropriate for children to play in that area at all while works are ongoing.
He said there will be “major truck movements” and hundreds of metres of pipe being “welded onsite,” meaning it’s not practically to provide any play facilities whatsoever. “Next September when they finish we’ll be in a much better position to negotiate with flood defence people and come up with a plan for 2028,” Mr O’Carroll said.
But, there is still hope for the children of Clontarf, as Mr O’Carroll also revealed that Uisce Éireann has confirmed their underground pipes will not impact any potential future playground. “We can build a playground above their pipe, the presence of the pipe won't dictate where the playground has to go,” he said.
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