Parks and wreck
Some look at the natural beauty of our national parks and take solace but, as this newly released data reveals, others are more interested in vandalism and anti-social behaviour such as an information board blasted by a shotgun or lands cut up by scrambler bikes
AN INFORMATION board blasted with a shotgun, an old well severely damaged with stones left strewn around, and land cut up by scramblers are among the incidents of vandalism in national parks and conservation areas over the past two years.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Minister of State for Nature Malcolm Noonan logged 34 cases where parks, natural heritage areas, or special protection areas were damaged deliberately by visitors.
Details of 10 of the incidents have been withheld by the NPWS, who said they were the subject of ongoing criminal investigations.
At Mullyvea in Co. Donegal, an interpretive board was blasted with lead shot some time last autumn, according to the log of incidents provided by the NPWS.
Another interpretive board was stolen from the Duntally Wood Nature Reserve, also in Donegal, a few months earlier
The Glen of the Downs in Co. Wicklow was a hotspot for anti-social activity with multiple incidents of illegal dumping, graffiti, damage to gates, and vandalism of its Octagon building after a €280,000 conservation project.
Meanwhile, there were five separate incidents reported at the Coole Park Nature Reserve in Gort, Co. Galway. On three separate occasions in quick succession, there was deliberate damage to the men’s toilets on the site. In another incident, the padlock and door on a bird-hide was forced and broken, while two historic structures were also vandalised.
The NPWS said an old well was damaged with removed stones discarded all around the area while a limekiln was also defaced, with keystones removed from a wall and thrown into nearby woodland.
The precise details of a fifth case was redacted from the records.
In Letterkeen Wild Nephin Park in Co. Mayo, there were two cases of deliberate damage in February this year. In one of the incidents, a timber foot-bridge damaged, while on the same date, land was torn up after off-road vehicles crossed a river in the park.
Other incidents logged by the NPWS included damage to land by scramblers in the Slieve Bloom special area of conservation and damage to fencing at illegal bike jumps in Knocksink Wood in Co. Wicklow.
There were five separate cases of damage or vandalism reported at Boora in Co. Offaly in the period between March 2023 and February of this year, but no details of what happened was provided.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service said: ‘These matters are part of a criminal investigation, and it is not in the public interest to disclose this information.’
Details of an incident of damage at Timahoe Esker Nature Reserve in Laois, two cases at Ballyteige National Nature Reserve in Wexford, and one at Letterkeen Wild Nephin Park were also withheld.