LABOUR Party councillor Padraig Reale has called for action in Garryowen to stop joyriders using raised ramps as “launch pads” and turning their green space into “scenes from Mondello Park”.
Cllr Reale proposed at February’s Metropolitan District meeting that the Council carries out a safety audit in respect to raised ramps. He asked for bollards to be put in place, saying he has been inundated with calls from concerned residents since his co-option last December.
“Residents tell me they’re tormented at the sound of constant joyriding in the green space, and the ease of accessibility to the green due to the ramps in place,” Cllr Reale said.
“I, and the residents, welcome any safety measures to reduce speed in communities and recognise that these raised ramps are effective, but effective on the roads. In this instance, these need to be installed with appropriate safety measures to ensure a green space does not become a racetrack like scenes from Mondello Park.”
The Labour councillor said that “residents living adjacent to the green space in Garryowen are fearful that these cars will mistime their exit and come in over their front wall or even through their windows. They’re fearful of leaving kids out in the garden, and their grandkids out to play, and they themselves have to check that it’s safe to leave their own houses before they do so.”
“This is not an environment that any resident should have to be living in. We should all feel safe in our homes.”
The City North representative said newly-installed walkways in Garryowen with three public lights, to allow ease of access, have become a no-go area for residents.
“I spoke to one resident who told me of her ordeal of being stranded in fear in the middle of this walkway as a car entered the top of the green to escape the pursuit of Gardaí and then exit at the bottom corner. She’s not used the walkway since and instead takes a longer route around the green. Several other residents also said they won’t use the walkway and have referred to it as a landing strip,” he said.
Fine Gael councillor Olivia O’Sullivan seconded Cllr Reale’s motion, telling Council members she had seen videos of joyriding in Garryowen and urged the executive not to ignore what the Labour councillor had said.
Sinn Fein councillor Sharon Benson also gave her support to the proposal and deemed the behaviour as “disgraceful” and “extremely dangerous”.
Senior Engineer for the Council’s Transportation and Mobility Directorate, Mike Richardson, said that the local authority will review the request for bollards in locations where suitable in line with any future development plans for Garryowen Green and pending budget availability. He also said he would meet Cllr Reale in Garryowen to look at possible solutions in the interim.
