A car was set fire to in the middle of a GAA pitch in Dublin, leaving the club in question without a home pitch for the foreseeable future.
Condemning this act of vandalism, an executive committee member of Crumlin GAA Club has described it as "soul destroying".
According to reports in the Irish Independent, the committee member, Ger Gavigan said: “On the early hours of Tuesday morning, a car rammed through the gates of Pearse Park, drove on to the pitch, and someone set the car alight in the middle".
He continued: “I’m 61, I’ve been playing there since I was 12, the pitch has never been touched before. There is some anti-social behaviour in the park like all other parks but we’ve never seen anything like this".
Mr Gavigan went on to say that Dublin Fire Brigade immediately responded to the scene after it had been reported and Dublin City Council staff also helped to clean the area the next morning.
“DCC were at the site immediately, they cleared the car from the pitch, the remaining glass and whatever else", he said.
He added that the pitch will possibly remain unplayable for at least two months.
“They raked the ground and put top soil on it by 9am the next morning, that was really good to see. But it’s going to be at least two months before the pitch is anywhere near playable again", he said. “The burnt area has been scraped away but the problem is that it’s dry, the pitch will need water to grow, and until then, we can’t train properly. There isn’t large enough of an area left to play in".
Crumlin GAA have been campaigning for a second pitch over the last few years, according to Mr Gavigan.
“Essentially, we’re left with no home pitch. We can train on part of the pitch you’d need to be able to train on the full thing to prepare properly,” said Mr Gavigan.“We don’t have an adult pitch, a pitch for anyone 14-years-old and up – so everything from football, hurling, camogie and ladies football all happen this one pitch".
“It’s been a major problem for us that we don’t have a second pitch, but now it’s a disaster for us, we’re left with nothing at the moment".
Ahead of the club championships, the club are now working towards seeking an alternative pitch.
“We’re not a huge club, we’re a small, community based one and it’s very important to the people, and for the kids and adults who play in the area,” Mr Gavigan said. “It’s all run by volunteers. It’s just horrible, soul destroying and sad that all the hard work we put it through the years has come to a standstill".
Elsewhere, Mr Gavigan also expressed concerns about how the club can train and prepare.
“We can’t play tournaments, we’re going to have to rent somewhere else in the city for training,” he said. “For home matches, we have to reach out to the local clubs for a space, but those clubs will be playing matches at the same time, so we’re conscious that they are busy too".
"More than likely, we’re going to have to bus our kids out to train for the away matches – it’s going to be inconvenient, an added cost and from a sports point-of-view, you don’t get the same experience as playing on your home pitch".
On this incident, An Garda Síochána have said that investigations remain ongoing, with the area to see more patrols as a result of this recent vandalism.
A spokesperson said: “Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of criminal damage by fire to a motor vehicle in Pearse Park, on July 29 shortly after 2:30am".
“The fire was safely extinguished and no injuries were reported at the time". (All quotes in this piece according to the Irish Independent).
Meanwhile, Dublin City Council said that this comes following two similar incidents of vandalism which happened last week, causing "significant damage" to the wider park, including a car being set alight to at William Pearse Park on July 27, and another incident of criminal damage in the same area two days later.
Fire debris was removed by council staff, as well as the area being cleaned and the ground being reinstated with soil and reseeded.
They added that it would look at other options for Crumlin GAA to play in the Dublin South Council area.
