'Intimidation and bullying' at Mountmellick playground
INCIDENTS of bullying and intimidation have prompted members of Mountmellick Town Council to call for the playground in Mountmellick to be moved from Smith's Field to beside the library at Irishtown.
"I was strongly opposed to it going down there," Cllr Michael Gormley said. "The library is the only place for the playground…I was completely against it from day one (the location at Smith's field]. It is not suitable at all. It is a shame it can't be used by everybody in our community. We need a proper steel fence at the library area where people are out walking and can sit down and there would be plenty of people in the vicinity. I propose we move it back here to the library. It was stupid to move it down there in the first place," he said.
The anti-social difficulties being encountered at the playground were raised by Mountmellick Town Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Rosemary Whelan, at the November meeting of the council, when she said there was "vandalism, bullying and intimidation occurring". She said aggressive behaviour had been in engaged in by some teenagers, and some children.
"The park belongs to nobody. It belongs to the people of the town, not one certain area. I have heard complaints of people being run out of the park," she said.
The caretaker of the park is on "24 hour watch" and is constantly fixing vandalised items, only for them to be damaged again. "It is a vicious circle," she said. She added that people had even shoved concrete bins into the middle of play areas.
Lighting is needed in the area, with the cost of the installation and connection of lights estimated at n7,000. "I don't know where that funding is going to come from - but it is the opinion of garda that lighting needs to be put there as its supposed to be a safe place," Cllr Whelan said.
People were urged to name those causing difficulties, and gardai would be willing to "name and shame them, and fully prosecute them," Cllr Whelan said.
While it was only a small fraction of people involved in the behaviour, Cllr Whelan said all it takes is "one bad egg" or for an injury to be caused, and the playground gets a bad name. This could not be allowed to happen, she said, as the council had invested €250,000 in the playground which was "a ferocious amount of money".
Having seen lads "acting the maggot", Cllr Marc Connolly said a stand needed to be taken against bullying and it was up to parents to pick up the phone and ring the garda. "That would have a much better effect than parents giving out," he said.
Council Director of Services, Declan Byrne said the playground is for the children of the town, and an active playground committee and presence at the playground is required to ensure it is "properly respected".
"It shouldn't be tolerated. People are going to have to start reporting and should be prepared to stand up. There should be a culture developed in the town to report these things," he said.
"Something has to be done about the playground," Cllr Bobby Delaney said. He felt a few lights were not going to solve the problem, nor will a visit "once in a blue moon from gardai". He agreed the area beside the library in Irishtown should have been fenced off and used. “It was a mistake putting it where it was put,” he said.
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Friday 18 May 2012
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