Horsescausehavoc atnewpitch

October 1995

Wicklow U.D.C. has come in for stick this week as a group of nuns have been left to round up horses threatening to destroy a £200,000 hockey development.

The brand new all weather facility which opened on Dominican Convent lands in September has already suffered estimated £7,000 damage and the bill is continuing to mount. The Dominican Order ploughed proceeds from the sale of lands in Dublin into the pitch to provide a facility, not alone for the 1,000 pupil campus, but for the town as a whole. A new adult hockey club has already formed and is using the facility.

But all that is jeopardised because of repeated forays by herds of up to 20 Travellers’ horses. So far damage has been confined to the newly created banks around the pitch which have been turned into a quagmire and need to be completely re-dug and re-sown.

There are also fears that the animals will cause a serious accident if they stampede down the steep banks and into the fencing where spectators and players stand.