At the award-winning Diamond Park in the north inner-city, work starts this month to fix fire damage

At the award-winning Diamond Park in the north inner-city, contractors will start work this month to fix fire damage to a climbing frame.

The fire damaged it last July, and a council spokesperson has said that works to fix it, mend a fence, and carry out some replanting, are estimated to cost a hefty €70,000.

The small park has two large play towers with slides. It has swings, trees, landscaped rock paths, table tennis tables, a basketball hoop and a small astroturf pitch.

On a recent Friday, a child clambered up the steps into a wooden climbing frame and slid down inside a metal pipe.

Across the bridge, ways into a play tower are boarded up. Inside are climbing ropes, and kids can jump between disks. But it has been closed since a fire last July, according to information given to councillors.

“Works on-site will commence in February 2025 to repair and make safe the items of play equipment that were damaged due to anti-social behaviour and vandalism,” says a council spokesperson.

Vandalism in playgrounds is an issue across Ireland, says criminologist Trina O’Connor.

“That speaks to us not having enough resources for young people, to keep them away from anti-social behaviour.”

Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll says the council could potentially reduce vandalism at playgrounds by providing more spaces for teens, which they help to design and build.

Other options

Playgrounds being vandalised is part of a wider problem with anti-social behaviour, says O’Connor, the criminologist.

“It’s not just damage. It’s loitering, urinating, intimidating people,” she says.

Young people need to be given other options, she says. “We need youth councils in marginalised communities, where young people are part of community development.”

Community development programmes often tend to work with young people aged 16 plus, but need to change and bring in teens of 13 and 14, she says. “The problem is young people are getting involved in anti-social behaviour so much younger.”

A playground in Weaver Park in the Liberties was set alight in 2022. A kid, 13 years old at the time, has been charged with criminal damage for that, according to the Sunday World.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council says it plans to take action to protect Diamond Park.

“Measures to help prevent further damage include increased monitoring, community engagement and potential design enhancements to improve the park’s resilience to vandalism,” says the council spokesperson.

Green Party Councillor Janet Horner says there is a risk of vandalism in some areas, but that the council has to push ahead with providing high-quality public parks in the north inner-city.

It may need to tweak the type of equipment it installs. “We have to build hardy, robust, play equipment,” she says.

It is difficult to design playground equipment that can resist all forms of vandalism, says Olivia Wall, bid manager at Kompan, a company that makes playground equipment.

“Public playground equipment is designed for use in public spaces without supervision and meets stringent standards.” says Wall.

“However, it is impossible to build equipment that is totally impregnable to vandalism and still be inviting to children and meet the child’s development needs,” she said.

O’Connor, the criminologist, says that while playground vandalism is an issue nationwide, some areas may be more vulnerable due to a lack of community surveillance.

There is a lot of turnover of residents in the north inner-city, with homeless accommodation and student accommodation, which makes it more difficult to organise community watch groups, she says.

“You need that natural surveillance,” says O’Connor. “If you see it, report it.”

Another problem all over is police resources. In areas where Gardaí are stretched, they may not be able to respond immediately to incidents, she says.

And may have more pressing priorities than playground vandalism.

Co-design of teen spaces

O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats councillor, says she thinks the solution is to provide teenagers with their own spaces – and get them involved in designing those.

She visited Islington in London as part of the Urban 95 Academy, an education programme aimed at designing city spaces so they are livable for small children.

When the area was being regenerated, “they wanted a big destination playground”, says O’Driscoll. “But they started with the space next to it.”

The designers delivered a teen-focused park. They consulted local young people, including some who were involved with the criminal justice system, and asked them to design a space for themselves, she says.

Some of the young people were hired as construction workers on the development too, says O’Driscoll.

One of the features the young people thought of was a mound of mud, which allowed them to kick a ball without the risk of the ball going out onto the road, she says.

They put in some gym equipment and plenty of benches, says O’Driscoll.

There was little or no vandalism to the playground next to the young people’s park, she says. “When damage is done to playgrounds, it’s not that people hate playgrounds, it’s that they don’t have space for themselves.”

The BMX and skateboarding facility in Ballyfermot is a huge success, she says and the council could roll out more spaces aimed at teens.

It needs to consult young people.“I’d love to be able to say what young people want in this city, but we are not good at asking them,” says O’Driscoll.

Although Dublin City Council does consult children and young people at times on how to plan the city.

It consulted them in 2021, on changes to the traffic layout in Grangegorman. And the council works with Green Schools, a project run by An Taisce, which engages with school children around mobility and sustainability.

“Sports clubs are really good at it, but we are not getting the public realm right for the young people, who feel forgotten” says O’Driscoll.

In 2022, a group of teenage girls came up with ideas to redesign some streets in the north inner-city, to make them safer and more fun, and to create hangout spaces for girls.

Says O’Connor, the criminologist: “The big issue is the lack of connectedness to community.”

There is no graffiti in the centre where she currently works, she says.

Some of the young people who use it are studying construction and were involved in refurbishing it, says O’Connor. “They are really proud of what they have done.”

If one of them started to graffiti, others would stop them, she says.

Youth intervention programmes are usually targeted at young people who are getting in trouble with the law, she says, but they should be open to all young people. “We want to get the kids before they get into the criminal justice system.”

The solution, says O’Connor, is a lot more indoor and outdoor spaces and activity programmes for all the teens in disadvantaged areas.

Vandalism often happens on weekend nights, so there needs to be activities organised for young people on those nights, she says.