The Tidy Towns Committee of a picturesque Donegal village have been left disappointed after vandals tore through their beautiful floral displays.
A senseless attack in Carrigans last weekend saw flower boxes thrown to the ground and plants pulled from their beds and strewn across footbaths.
A more worrying act was the destruction of a safety barrier on a bridge in the village which left it open to a seriously potential danger.
Carrigans Tidy Towns secretary Liam O’Donnell told Donegal Daily how the hard-working group have been confused and disappointed by the incidents.
“Someone or some group decided last weekend to vandalise the accessible flower patterns and the signage in the village, which have consistently earned points for us in the competition in the last number of years.
“We have been entering the Tidy Towns competition since 2012 and year on year our points have been going up. This is encouraging to people to make the effort to clean up,” Liam said.
Flower beds destroyed last weekend in Carrigans. Image: Carrigans Tidy Towns Facebook
The small local team of 6 people who do the majority of maintenance work have been demoralised by the recent attacks, Liam said.
“This is just mindless vandalism, with no sense or purpose to it,” Liam said.
He added that the attack on Mc Gees bridge, in particular, is a worrying incident.
A previous accident at the bridge led to the council erecting a safety barrier, but in last weekend’s attacks the barrier was pushed into the river and the floral arrangements on it were also damaged.
“Somebody could potentially get hurt as it is a 15ft drop into the river,” Liam said.
“The committee and the village are very disappointed and annoyed that anyone would do this.
“At this point it not about finding out who they were and carrying out any retribution, it’s about asking people to show our village a wee bit of respect.
“The flowers aren’t hurting anybody and there is no reason for them to be tampered with.”
Carrigans Village, Co. Donegal. Image: Carrigans Tidy Towns Facebook
The Tidy Towns adjudication period takes place throughout the summer months. As judging is done with no prior warning, it is not known if judges have been to Carrigans already.
“We are at a loss because we don’t know if they have been here yet. It they happen to land out before we get the repairs reinstated it could stand against us in the competition,” Liam said.
The committee have held a meeting to make plans to replace the flowers and make good of the displays, however they are asking those responsible not to ruin their efforts again.
The gardai have been informed of the vandalism and the local community are on high alert against further attacks.
“We are asking people in the town to keep an eye out. And for those who perpetrated the attack – if they could please resist in future,” Liam said.
“They didn’t just concentrate on one spot, they went after all the accessible displays in the village.
“Bits and pieces of vandalism will happen in any town, it’s that we are such a tight knit group and small committee that it is so disappointing,” Liam said.
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