Man arrested after a number of locations in Westport defaced with graffiti
An anti-graffiti project delivered by Westport Tidy Towns and funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development was also defaced.
Photos of the damage have circulated on social media and have been widely condemned, with local councillor Peter Flynn branding the culprits as 'brain dead idiots'.
Speaking to the Irish Independent this morning (Wednesday), Cllr Flynn said similar smaller incidents of illicit graffiti have occurred in the west Mayo town in recent years, but 'nothing as bad as this'.
The Westport Tidy Towns committee have won several national awards for the upkeep of the town. The Clew Bay town also scored favourably in a recent Irish Business Against Litter survey.
Westport Tidy Towns have already undertaken work to remove the paint
'We will not be deterred by wonton vandalism,' Westport Tidy Towns said in a statement on Facebook.
An Garda Síochána Mayo described the vandalism as 'deeply upsetting.'
'Westport is well known for its long and proud tradition of being involved in the Tidy Towns - this is due to the strong community spirit and voluntary efforts of local residents, businesses, and those working with Mayo County Council who together - make our town a beautiful and welcoming place to both live and visit.'
Anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the locality between the hours of 11.30pm Monday June, 23, and 1.30am on Tuesday June 24 is asked to contact Westport Garda Station by phone or in person.
Gardaí are currently examining CCTV footage as part of their investigation. They have asked anyone with dashcam or doorbell footage captured when the alleged criminal damage occurred to make it available to them.
'Our message is very clear- incidents of criminal damage and anti-social behaviour of this nature, will not be tolerated, and will be fully investigated.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Post
a day ago
- Irish Post
Poetry of the margins: Nick Burbridge's Undercover Verses
NICK Burbridge's Undercover Work, his fourth collection, comprises a series of poems that explore various themes this poet, songwriter, novelist, and playwright has written about elsewhere. Burbridge is the laureate of those working in the margins: undercover officers, mad poets, those blighted by the indifference of society, and in poems both in form and in free verse Burbridge maps out his territory. The undercover officers arrive early: 'Out of Ashford Barracks in an unmarked van the new squad/of undercover men…/pilgrim to Canterbury for a last dry run.' They're headed for the six counties and in poems with titles such as Tour of Duty, The Whisteblower's Waltz, and Dirty Peace Burbridge seeks to inhabit the minds of those sent in to police the North when the Troubles first broke with the burning of the Bogside. Towards the end of this sequence scattered throughout Undercover Work we arrive at Burbridge's own view of recent history: 'Civil wars are lost when they begin.' If, as Coventry Patmore said, the end of art is peace, it is largely thanks to poets like Burbridge that the peace process found a precise articulation and succeeded after so many years of the Troubles. But what about the legacy of the mindless violence that was perpetrated in the cause of nationalism? Even here on the 'mainland' the psychological effects of 'civil war' can be felt. Burbridge creates an alter ego, Dublin Flynn, who weaves in an out of the collection, a man shaken to his core by 'civil war'. He makes his first appearance in Brighton Rock (Flynn on Patrol), that martial word, 'patrol', linking Flynn to the 'undercover officers': 'Flynn glanced up at the star-strewn sky, distracted/by the subtle motion of the seasons, and a sense of what is past and yet to come.' He's attacked in his local park by a 'gang of addicts', and ends as 'minor tragedy./One more exhibit on the fringe'. Flynn's various skirmishes are at once funny and sad, but Flynn is at heart a comic character, a restless frequenter of bars and sessions, a survivor where all around him is falling apart. It is his optimism of the heart that keeps him going. The lyricism of 'star-strewn sky' shows what Burbridge is capable of, and elsewhere in the collection a similar lyricism is at work: Among sown fields I walk alone waiting for news. This is my pitch. I am your grandfather; I'll watch over the paths you are set on but your map's not my concern. (Celtic Knot) In The Maze, Burbridge brings together this hard-won lyricism with his political concerns to fine effect: So I watched his neck bend and his limbs racked and torn. Somewhere a bell was rung. This note I send to to the dead and unborn. One day we will all be sprung. Burbridge can do everything as a poet, from political and personal lyric poetry to elegy. His poem for Dubliner Gabriel Duffy (1942–2008), author of the autobiography From Sham To Rack is very moving: 'when these footholds I have fought to keep/dissolve… and I'm washed up on the black strand/where all drifters end, let me find you…' (From Sham To Rock). At the heart of the collection is Nursery As Ashram. For some years, besides his work in the arts, Burbridge has worked in a nursery in Brighton, and Nursery As Ashram conveys in vivid images some sense of what this work has been like: 'Seasons unfold, and the shrill flock/beat a worn trail to the nearby park/as they have for decades, as they will.' Burbridge's focus on children here, after the darker poems of troubled operatives and operators, is both touching and affecting. One wonders if Burbridge might write a children's book next, a collection to rank alongside Lear and Causley and Rosen. With the great gifts Burbridge has at his disposal it wouldn't surprise me. Undercover Work, Nick Burbridge, Olympia Publishers, £11.99 See More: Nick Burbridge, Poetry, Undercover Work
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
Gardaí hunt gang behind overnight Monaghan ATM robbery
Thieves targeted the independently owned machine which was stationed at the former Ulster Bank building in Clones shortly before 2am. It's understood the gang wrenched open a steel security door in order to try and secure access to the ATM. Despite the ATM being left intact, an undisclosed sum of cash was taken in the heist. The scene itself was sealed off pending a full technical examination as gardaí attempt to find those responsible. Detectives are currently attempting to secure CCTV footage from the area and surrounding businesses in a bid to identify both the identities of those involved and the vehicles used in the raid. The Irish Independent understands gardaí believe two vehicles, namely a Ford Transit van and silver Audi were used by the gang during the course of the daring raid. Sources believe the episode may also be linked to a similar incident last week in Jonesborough, a small village along the Armagh-Louth border. Part of that belief is based on the involvement of the Audi which senior investigators believe was also used in the Jonesborough raid. Details surrounding the aborted heist have been roundly condemned at local political level. Cllr Pat Treanor, who lives locally, said the episode was not the first time criminals had targeted the same ATM. ADVERTISEMENT 'The local community is disappointed and shocked that this is the second time there has been an attack on this particular ATM,' he said. 'We condemn whoever is at this and ask them to leave this community alone. 'This is one of two public ATMs. There are a number of smaller ATMs in businesses in some of the shops in town, but this ATM is used quite a bit by the through traffic as it is on the main N54.'
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Repeated vandalism in Wexford playground poses danger to children – ‘It is just dreadful'
Ferns Tidy Towns, who look after the area, took to social media to express their frustration over the most recently incident that took place after 9 p.m. on Friday, July 25. "Over the last couple of months the Medieval themed playground in the community park has been repaired time and time again to enable the children of the community to enjoy playing in the outdoors. It's very disappointing to visit it and discover the vandalism done to the slide leading from the turret,' a representative explained. "Those responsible should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Not alone have you damaged community property, you've left a children's play area in a dangerous condition,' they added. Although a garda representative said they were aware of the incident but had no reports on file, there is speculation that the incident was carried out by a group of young people who were witnessed causing the damage by kicking and stamping the slide. Given the severity of the damage to the slide, families have been instructed to keep their children away from the area to avoid potential injuries. Cathaoirleach of Enniscorthy municipal district Barbara-Anne Murphy said it was incredibly disheartening to see. "It is just dreadful that children can't make use of a playground that has been specifically made for them. I only realised it was repeated incidents which is terrible. The whole community work so hard together to keep the area working and tidy. That playground is cherished by so many children and to take that away is awful,' she said. She further recognised the avoidable cost that was repeatedly being laid at the feet of the Tidy Towns group, a volunteer organisation that gives up their own time to look after the community space. "When cleaning up something that was deliberately damaged, of course that money would have already been earmarked for something else.' She added that it was all the more discouraging that it appeared to be older children and youths deliberately taking facilities away from younger children. ADVERTISEMENT "The trouble is is that this is being done by older children and youths. I have said before that youths need more places to hang out and socialise in Enniscorthy area but that does not mean they can destroy other areas,' she said. Although many social media users are pushing for cameras to be installed to deter future incidents, Cllr Murphy is not entirely convinced that it is the core solution. "It takes so long to get CCTV and to get the various people to sign off on it and it's not right. I know privacy laws have a role to play but I think everyone is used to being filmed all the time now. However, I'm not sure cameras are the solution here maybe its youth diversion. Maybe the FDYS or WLD could be brought in for a solution. The FDYS do wonderful work with youngsters,' she added.
