‘Joyriding menace has to end before someone dies’

FED-UP residents in Bawnogue, subjected to three days of joyriding last week, have warned: Put the brakes on this epidemic or someone will be killed.
Stolen cars were raced along St Cuthbert’s Road onto the green area along the canal and even into St Cuthbert’s Park, damaging the football pitch before being set on fire and abandoned.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “This goes on at all hours of the morning and it’s terrifying to listen to it. We have had to put up with this problem for years.
“At one stage the bend in the road there was nicknamed the ‘hot corner’ because of the number of burnt-out cars. I’m just waiting for one of them to crash into the house, or worse.
“If they don’t get a handle on it and put a stop to it once and for all somebody is going to lose their life for sure.”
Last year South Dublin County Council held crisis talks with locals and other stakeholders in a bid to stamp out the scourge of stolen cars “rallying” and “doughnuting” at break-neck speed around the ring road.
Cars are frequently tipped over a boundary wall to gain access to the 35-acre St Cuthbert’s Park and then set on fire after a joyride. Quad bikes are also dumped there.
People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, who lives nearby, yesterday called for civic intervention to stop the problem from escalating out of control.
He told The Gazette: “Obviously this is completely unacceptable. The young people who are engaging in this type of activity are not only a danger to themselves but the community as a whole.
“These cars are either stolen or bought very cheaply. Driving a vehicle at high speeds in built up areas is lethal.
“Then setting them alight is putting absolutely everybody in danger.
“The emergency services who have to deal with this are been deviated from emergencies where lives are in danger.
“I’m making a call to the young people of the area to please desist from this reckless behaviour and stop destroying their own community’s environment.
“At the moment we are talking about burned out cars; next we’ll be talking about fatalities if this continues.”