This article is from page 37 of the 2007-09-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
GANGS of youths, who are stealing cars, racing them around a site in Killaloe and crashing them.
Then they move on up the town to cause further mayhem and distur- bance, a local councillor told a meet- ing of elected representatives for the area.
Cllr Tony O’Brien said the stolen cars are being burned out or driven into Lough Derg.
The open space at The Moys in
Clarisford is an appealing attraction for those responsible for the anti-so- cial behaviour, the councillor said. “When they have caused havoc down there for a few hours, they go on into Killaloe town and the behav- iour continues. It’s attracting an un- desirable element to Killaloe and it’s having a huge impact on the town. We need some form of retractable barrier or bollards that would prevent them from getting in there,” he said. Clr O’Brien said that a local group is taking steps towards developing
the area to provide facilities for rec- reation and sporting groups, but un- til this happens “‘something has to be done to stop this behaviour”’.
The councillor said that while the gardai are called to deal with the gangs “the perpetrators are usu- ally gone by the time the gardai get there”.
Senior Executive Engineer, Sean Lenihan, said he could not suggest any immediate solution to the prob- lem, but promised to look at the situ- rABle)te
“A height restriction won’t solve the problem of cars being driven in and if we put a barrier or retractable bollards, someone will have to be responsible for opening and locking it,” he said.
The senior engineer also pointed out that a barrier would interfere with boat-owners moving their boats on and off the water.
‘“There’s no immediate solution but I will take another look at the prob- lem and see what we can come up with,” Mr Lenihan said.