The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Playground opens to whoops of joy
YEARS of persistence, persuasion and plain hard work finally paid off on Friday when a new €225,000 playground opened to an enthusiastic bunch of excited children on the banks of the Mall River.
That the playground now exists is down to the work of the Am Spraoi group of parents, which was formed in 2011 and since that time has worked to secure a site and raise the €30,000 community contribution that levered the additional funding needed to develop the facility.
There have been many disappointments along the way, particularly in locating a suitable site. But despite the setbacks, the group persisted in their efforts to secure a playground for the young families of Dingle as well as visitors to the town.
Cllr Seamus Cosaí Mac Gearailt, who played a pivotal role in the campaign, was full of praise for the group which includes Dingle Person of the Year Claire Galvin, Tor Cotton, Neasa Uí Mhóráin, Laurence Wetterwald and Mark Grealy.
Am Spraoi, for their part, greatly appreciated the work of Vincent Foley of Kerry County Council who went beyond the call of duty in helping to bring the project to fruition and they were also greatly impressed with the work of Brown Bros Construction who built the playground on a previously disused site between Cuilín and the Mall River.
The opening of the new playground now raises a question about the future of Dingle’s old playground, which has been in place for the past 40 years or so in the Orchard (town park). From the outset, this very secluded playground was beset by problems - largely due to the nocturnal activities of the town’s teenagers – to the extent that parents felt it was unsafe for young children.
Over the years various parents groups attempted to have the old playground upgraded and the nightime anti-socialites expelled from the Orchard. However, they achieved only limited success, which prompted the Am Spraoi group to look elsewhere in the town for a more suitable site. They sought, and were refused, permission for a playground on two sites west of the pier but, with considerable support from Cllr Mac Gearailt, finally secured the Mall River site last year and construction work on the project started soon afterwards.