Councillors and residents rail against gaps in a Kilbarrack playground fence

On Thursday morning, the rain poured down on an empty Kilbarrack playground on Foxfield Green.

But it’s often a bustling spot for local children and their parents, says Madeliene McNally-Murray, her blonde hair poking out from under a black umbrella.

Three schools, St Michael’s House Special School, Abacas Special School and Scoil Eoin primary are all within a minute or two walk.

The playground was long fought for and finally arrived in 2019, to great excitement among locals, says McNally-Murray of the Kilbarrack Foxfield Community Residents Association. 

Even at the time, McNally-Murray says that she was disappointed with the standard of the facility compared to others, she says. “But, happy days, we got our playground opened.”

Today, she says, it resembles an abandoned project.

She wants to see the aging equipment updated and added to, she says, – but first, there is something even more urgent that needs sorting.

A green fence runs around the perimeter, a couple of feet high, but whole sections are missing.

There are huge gaps, through which children can slip out and onto the often-busy road, she says.

Said Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron at a council meeting on Monday: “This has got to a stage now where it's a shit show.”

Saga

Several fencing panels have been removed by vandals, gradually over time, said McNally-Murray, in the playground.

But they were flimsy and not fit for purpose to begin with, she says.

“I wouldn’t even describe it as fencing, it’s chicken-wire,” said Barron, the councillor, by phone on Wednesday.

“Your kid is on a bike and goes down the hill, through the fence, goes straight onto the little mini roundabout and gets killed?” says Barron, fearing the worst.

Last August, during a walk-through of the site with McNally-Murray, Barron, and council officials, it was suggested that the council could re-use fencing from elsewhere.

This turned out to be a non-runner, said Fergus O’Carroll, from the council’s parks department, at Monday’s meeting of the North Central Area.

Now, the council must make provision in the improvement program for the year ahead, O’Carroll said.

But the money had already been set aside from last year’s discretionary fund, says Barron, referring to a flexible pot of money that councillors for each area can decide how to spend. 

The builder had agreed that it was achievable with the money accrued, he says. “They've taken forever to do it, simple as that.”

It should have been rubber-stamped late last year but now, in January, it still hasn’t been, he says. “Why the hell was it not rubber-stamped?”

Kilbarrack has been let down badly through the years in many ways, says Barron.

And this years-long saga over fixing a fence in a playground is emblematic of that, he says. “It’s an absolute thundering disgrace.”

Plugging the gaps

McNally-Murray is puzzled how the issue is going on so long, she says, because she knows how hard so many people have worked to get it sorted.

Although, she says, she can cite several instances in recent years where a project was approved, discretionary funding was allocated, but the work wasn’t carried out.

“I was told I got funding for gym equipment which never went in. I have been working on a heritage sign for seven years, which was approved, I think three years ago, and it still didn't go in,” she says.

The Kilbarrack Foxfield Community Residents Association have a great relationship with the area manager, she says, and officials in the parks department.

Several councillors and TDs have been part of the push to get the playground and its fencing sorted, she says. 

But somewhere along the line, it keeps falling between the cracks, she says.

“It's nobody's fault,” she says, just a lack of communication between different areas of the council and community groups.

It’s time to plug the gaps, in the fence and in the communication, she says. 

Councillor Aoibheann Mahon joined her Fianna Fáil colleague Barron in voicing her frustration at Monday’s meeting.

She called for a breakdown of what exactly was spent from the discretionary fund last year.

“Because it is an email that I get on repeat, and in particular from Kilbarrack, because of the frustration over all of this,” she says.

Looking at last year’s discretionary fund, 99 percent of it has been spent, said area manager Mick Carroll.

The heritage sign, says Carroll, was committed to before he took up his posting in the North Central Area. But, is now ready for installation, he said.

“We’ll have a little discussion locally with parks. We'll have a little discussion with the resident’s group around some kind of a ceremony, establishing how that’ll be worked,” he said. “I understand your frustration.”

On the fencing, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said on Thursday that it is aware of the councillors concerns, “and is working towards having a contractor on site in a short timeframe to address the issues raised”.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.