'Sickened' councillors slam vandals who burned new toilets at St Anne's Park
Outrage continues as councillors and representatives remain shocked, appalled, and disgusted by the mindless vandalism of new toilet facilities in St Anne's Park between Raheny and Clontarf last Saturday.
The facilities were only installed in recent weeks, yet it took just six days for an unknown group to set the eco-toilets ablaze, undoing years of community campaigning. Local councillor Donna Cooney took to social media to express her frustration at this devastating act of vandalism.
“We had been looking for these facilities for a long time and unfortunately we weren’t consulted about the exact location or that they were going,” Cllr Cooney stated. She says had they been made aware prior to the toilet’s existence local reps could have helped prepare some means of avoiding such shocking vandalism.
“A little bit of local knowledge might have helped, because we have been a long time looking for this and then they go in overnight and we were not even informed about it,” she said. “Let’s now work together and make sure we have facilities, particularly for girls playing on these pitches.”
Speaking at the scene of the incident, local TD Barry Heneghan expressed his deep shock about the destruction of facilities that reps have been trying to get put in for the past ten years. He said these toilets were for young children coming to play sports, people with disabilities, and any community members who needed them.
“They were here for six days and they’ve already been destroyed. The thing people are really p****d off about is this was your tax money that finally went toward something that is going to be used,” Mr Heneghan said. “It’s completely unacceptable. This is an attack on our community and we’re not going to let the vandals win.”
Mr Heneghan said that all representatives from the local area will work together on this issue to see if the toilets are “salvagable” and consider protective measures, such as moving them to a more secure location or even CCTV surveillance. He stressed the importance of investing in local communities and that those who wish to play sport in the area absolutely need a place to get changed or use the bathroom.
Cllr Kevin Breen said the destruction of the toilets felt “like someone had kicked me in the stomach” considering the relentless campaigning that had been done to get them placed. “Thousands of children play sports here each weekend and it’s absolutely sickened to see what’s happened,” he said.
The vandalism is particularly upsetting as these eco-toilets were intended to be a temporary solution before further facilities were placed at the sight, said Cllr Deirdre Heney. “It was kind of a stopgap to facilitate people using the park, a temporary arrangement for people until we got a more permanent figure installed,” she said.
While some have expressed concern that the secluded location of these toilets may have opened them up to potential vandalism, Cllr Heney said the fact this arson occurred during the night means it was a purposeful attack that could have happened no matter where they had been placed. “I find it hard to understand how anyone would do this on purpose, it’s really sad,” she said.
Cllr Alison Field said she was shocked to learn about this act of vandalism, as the toilets had been installed so recently she hadn’t even had time to go see them before they were destroyed. She said: “To see this happening is just disrespectful, horrible, and disgraceful.”
These toilets are an absolute necessity within the area, according to Cllr Clodagh Ní Mhuirí, who said the temporary toilets were installed with plans to expedite the addition of changing rooms and more permanent facilities. “When you see this amount of work going into this, seeing them vandalised so soon is hard to understand,” she said.
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