Letter to the Editor of Douglas Post, 4 November 2010

Dear Editor,

I write this letter with total anger over the mindless damage to the children’s playground in Ballinlough by what is alleged to be teenagers “hanging out in the area”. It is appalling that a child’s playground was so spoiled last week by people who seem to want to ruin its innocent nature to make sure that young kids don’t have anywhere to play in the vicinity.  

I wish to send a message out to those who could be described as mindless thugs who destroyed a child’s playground. The people of Ballinlough do care about its people, do care about its amenities and how the area looks. The people of Ballinlough have worked solidly over several decades to build a confident community whose patience is now been seriously tested by some people who seem to want to destroy and blasé through their youth and destroying the positive roots of community life in Ballinlough. The community is now been pushed to the limit by some young people who could be described as mindless vandals who wish to mess around with cans of paint.

As a result of Ballinlough’s status as an older and settled area of the city, it is not entitled to funding for large scale youth and community projects and has admittedly been struggling to curb the growing anti-social behaviour in the area. However, that does not mean the people of Ballinlough don’t care. The recent very high attendances and pleading concerns at the area’s policing forum meeting have demanded answers from local councillors, the local community gardaí and questioned the responsibility of local parents. 

Physically going down to the Japanese Gardens on a number of occasions during the summer months, I was appalled and maybe more saddened at some of the behaviour I witnessed – especially the underage drinking. I was saddened on one occasion to meet three sixteen year olds drinking at 6.30pm in the evening and saddened on listening and talking to them; that this was their youth culture, that in some way drinking to get drunk and “smashed” was cool, that this was the way forward for young people in the area and the city. I wish to tell these young people that is not – continuous drinking, puking, smashing bottles, drug dealing, threatening passerbys, intimidating the great people of Ballinlough, worrying the entire community, graffitying walls and ruining a child’s playground – all because it is thought to be cool and the statement that “all young people do it” is a deluded attitude. It is not the way forward and any young person who can’t stop themselves going down this road, who is getting addicted, should seek immediate attention and get some kind of help.

If there are any signs of hope, it is the teenagers who I met in the Japanese Gardens who are not drinking and who genuinely wanted something to do, to be challenged in their lives. If there are young people looking to share ideas, looking to get community projects going, have ideas to do something useful with their lives, my door is always open. As a community, we will find funding. We will support anything positive that contributes to life in Ballinlough and/ or the city.

In addition, if there are parents who wish to come with me on walks to move on those teenagers who don’t listen; my door is open. I know there are quite a few parents in the community who realise they can’t sit on top of their teenagers and have to leave them out and trust them. I have also been told by our community gardaí that many incidents of anti-social behaviour are not been reported upon and hence certain teenagers causing trouble are not being met and challenged.

Juxtaposed to that, I firmly believe that in the world we live in, we need young energetic people to step forward with ideas. I would also like to appeal to young people not to condemn youth projects such as youth cafes in the area that are ongoing and to keep an open mind that such projects will ‘save’ young people’s lives and future outlook. I would say get up from the couch, do something, set up something new, get out there because in this world, it’s the person who will fight for himself or herself will, in the long run, succeed. Every person deserves a challenge; picking up a paint can and destroying a child’s playground should not be even considered as a productive way forward to spend one’s youth.

with deep respect,

Cllr Kieran McCarthy