Graffiti described as “pornographic” has been removed the playground in Shannon.
Concerns were raised over the weekend when further graffiti was plastered across equipment at the playground in Shannon. Different messages and graphics were included on slides throughout the facility.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Cllr Donna McGettigan described the drawings and messages as “pretty vulgar”. “Please leave this area for the young children to enjoy themselves, one day it could be a young relative of yours that has to look at it”.
On Sunday morning, she was able to remove the vast majority of the graffiti with the more stubborn parts cleaned by Vincent Donegan after coming across the images online.
“I can’t get what the kick is,” she said of the vandalism. “It was quite disgusting to see the graffiti,” Donna commented. “It was something you would see on bathroom walls but not in a children’s playground”.
Cllr McGettigan did not believe the person carrying out the vandalism was doing so in a sinister manner. While she admitted that it was known if it was teenagers that drew the different images, she flagged that groups have been seen using the facility despite it being for children aged twelve and under.
Parents have stopped taking their children to the playground in Shannon due to the graffiti, she stated.
Teenagers in Shannon need an area to have ownership of, the county councillor maintained. “I felt really sorry for teenagers during the pandemic, you think back to when on a Monday you would know what outfit you were wearing for the teenage disco on a Friday and wondering if the person you fancy would show up, all that has been gone over the past eighteen months”.
She encouraged teenagers and parents to come forward with ideas to help give teenagers an area to be responsible for within the town and suggested the donation of a big wall to serve as a mural as one idea.
