Gardaí were called to remove a large crowd who attended a 'party' at the grounds of Abbeyside/Ballinacourty GAA club in Waterford, which included a large fire at the top of the main pitch, during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Club members had to take part in a large scale clean-up of “glass bottles and cans” before training for young players on Saturday morning, according to the Waterford News & Star.
The club lashed out at the anti-social behaviour in a Facebook post over the weekend, calling on parents to help out in preventing it.
“Finally we are now putting parents on notice, that we will be working with the Gardai over the next number of weeks to stamp out this anti-social behaviour. We will be instructing the Gardai to arrest and charge any persons found on our grounds engaging in anti social behaviour. It’s time for parents to start parenting and for people to show respect for our grounds.”
A large fire was lit on the clubs main pitch.
The full statement from Abbeyside/Ballinacourty read: “More Unwelcome Visitors. Regrettably our Club Grounds was the scene of more unwelcome anti social behaviour last night. Around midnight this was the scene as a large number of mainly Leaving Cert students, who we hope aren’t too stressed from Covid19 [sic] etc and can sit their exams, were holding a party in our grounds with a large fire lighting at the top of our main pitch.
“Club officers had to go out in extremely inclement weather after midnight and call the Gardai to remove the large crowd. It would appear some families are taking a great liking to our grounds as we had siblings of those who caused damage at our grounds a few weeks ago in attendance. This morning more officers had to go out and clean up the mess of glass bottles and cans before the arrival of our Juvenile Academy. This type of behaviour can no longer continue as it’s only a matter of time before there is serious damage or worse caused in our Grounds.
“Last night we did manage to get the registration plates of three cars which were there and have requested the Gardai to deal with the owners of these cars.
“We have always welcomed members of other clubs to use our facilities as it is close to where they live, but it now appears we have no choice but to stop all those except from our own club from using our facilities even during the day.
“It is sickening to see members of other clubs organising these gatherings on Social media. Finally we are now putting parents on notice, that we will be working with the Gardai over the next number of weeks to stamp out this anti social behaviour. We will be instructing the Gardai to arrest and charge any persons found on our grounds engaging in anti social behaviour. It’s time for parents to start parenting and for people to show respect for our grounds.”
