Laois football club member ‘mooned’ at and verbally abused

Antisocial behaviour at Portlaoise AFC grounds is being blamed on a broken down fence into neighbouring Clonroosk Abbey. 

Gardaí attended at the Portlaoise football club grounds at Rossleighan Park on the Mountmellick Road over the bank holiday weekend due to antisocial behaviour. 

Club Secretary Pat Horan says the club is supposed to be closed for the next five weeks but people have been accessing the rear of the club grounds from Clonroosk Abbey where a fence has broken down.

Mr Horan explained that the houses and gardens in Clonroosk Abbey are all walled off but a fence made from concrete posts and wooden panels was erected at a green area backing on to the soccer club pitches. 

This fencing is now broken and the area is beginning to be used as a shortcut from Clonroosk Abbey to the Mountmellick Road. Mr Horan said it is also enabling an antisocial element access to the pitch which is due to be reseeded and aerated in the coming weeks at a cost to the club. 

He is also concerned about safety as he said the gap leads into a drain which children have to cross to enter the club. 

“The community guards in the town, especially Garda Ronan Maher, have been down. They have been over to the estate to talk to the kids,” said Mr Horan. 

He said there had been numerous interactions between club members and teenagers. He said a female member of the committee approached them and “they mooned her…told her f**k off” and another member who is Irish but dark skinned was racially abused. “They have no respect,” he said. 

Mr Horan thanked the gardaí and in particular the community gardaí and said three squad cars had to attend at the grounds last Sunday night. 

“Our problem with the soccer club is we are closed in the summer. We are doing maintenance,” he said. 

Pictured above: The broken fence leading to Clonroosk Abbey.

Mr Horan said the club had no problems with the youngsters from Fairgreen and the people who access the club from the front gates. Members have spoken to some of the younger children from Clonroosk Abbey and they are now adhering to the rules, he said. 

However, he said the shortcut from Clonroosk Abbey is causing real issues for the club with some antisocial behaviour continuing and dogs are now getting onto the pitches where they can defecate which could cause a health hazard for players.  

“We have a policy where you come in the front gate. If you come in the gate and do what you are told you are welcome,” he said. 

“We leave the astro open to let the kids come in and have a kick around,” Mr Horan explained. 

He said the club has planning permission for a full size astro pitch and are fundraising in order to pay for it. He said they are not in a financial position to erect new fencing and have made contact with the developer. He is appealing to the contractor and Laois County Council to resolve the issue. He has been in contact with Fine Gael Cllr Willie Aird in relation to the issue. 

Cllr Aird said he had contacted the council and asked them to investigate whether or not a fence or a wall was included in the planning conditions. He said if it wasn’t it would be down to the goodwill of the developer as the estate has yet to be taken in charge by the council. 

If the gap in the fence is deemed to represent a safety concern, he said there may be a role for the council’s building enforcement officer. 

Cllr Aird said he has contacted the council’s planning department last week and is awaiting a response in relation to the issue. 

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said she would like to see boundary walls included in planning conditions on all estates. 

“What you get is these shoddy little wooden fences and they get broken down,” she said. 

She claimed a “no man’s land” strip of only a few feet left between Clonroosk Abbey and Fairgreen and it has become a dumping ground. “It is kind of the bane of our lives as it is classified as no man’s land,” she said. 

Pictured above: An area between Clonroosk Abbey and Fairgreen. 

“What I am calling for is a proper boundary wall to be stipulated as part of a planning permission,” said Cllr Dwane Stanley. 

Leinster Express/Laois Live has contacted the developer in relation to the broken fence.