Enfield Tidy Town left to pick up the cost after picnic table and bench set alight by vandals

Just days after hosting a successful festival in the Enfield Leisure Park, members of Enfield Tidy Towns and the local community were horrified to see one of the picnic benches in the park set alight and totally destroyed by vandals.

The picnic bench in the popular local amenity park was burnt to the ground with nothing only ashes remaining after being set alight in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 3rd July.

Trim Gardai have confirmed that they are investigating the incident and have appealed for witnesses or anyone with information on the arson to come forward.

Much of the funds raised from the previous weekend's fundraising event will now have to go towards replacing the bench and tidying up the area around it, according to Enfield Tidy Towns Treasurer Brian O'Donoghue.

Brian, a long time volunteer with the local tidy towns group said there have been ongoing incidents with vandalism where attempts are made to set fire to bins in the park nearly every week in the park.

“The loss of this table will set us back about €1,500 between the table itself and reinstating the ground around it. It also looks unsightly as well,” he said.

“We had a festival last Sunday, it was a great success and we made a few thousand euro but this will now be eaten up with this. It is very hard to take.”

He added that these people seem to “get a kick out of it” and is worried about what they might do next. Enfield Tidy Towns are appealing for anyone with any information to contact Trim Gardai and Brian said they would be offering a financial reward for information leading towards a conviction.

Brian told how the bank area is owned by Waterways Ireland but that the local tidy towns group has developed it and maintained it over the past 40 years with the help of various schemes like FAS and they still have a CE scheme.

Investigations by Trim Gardai into the incident are continuing. Inspector Sue Byrne of Trim Garda station said: “We are actively investigating this case and are looking for any witnesses to come forward or anyone who can give any information regarding the incident.”

Newly elected local councillor Padraig Coffey has also condemned the vandalism. He said: “This is not the first incident. It is about the third incident in the last few years. It's a constant problem, there is a dustbin they are constantly trying to set alight.”

He told how a fire had been lit another time against a locked door at the toilet block and another picnic bench was also lit in a separate incident.

In the latest case, Cllr Coffey said he believed a lot of accelerant would have had to be used. “They would have had to have a lot of accelerant to get it to do what it did and burn itself out.

“There are no cameras down there that is a big issue,” he added.

Cllr Coffey wants to see cameras installed to act as a deterrent and to help find those responsible for such incidents and said it is something he will be pursuing.