'I don't know how they didn’t kill themselves' — Teenagers filmed joyriding near Cork playground

The teenagers were seen joyriding in the park, which recently secured €185,000 to expand its playground, on both Monday and Tuesday mornings this week.

Gardaí are investigating a burglary and potentially stolen cars after youths were filmed joyriding near a playground in a park off Cork’s Douglas Road this week.

When gardaí arrived, the youths fled the park, driving up a pedestrian path that leads to the busy Douglas swimming pool to evade capture.

“I don't know how they didn’t kill themselves or someone else the way they were driving,” one local resident who asked not to be named said.

“People walk that path to get to swimming training five days a week around that time. I had warned people not to walk that morning, they could have been on that path otherwise.

“They [the joyriders] looked very young, 15 or 16 years old.” 

They were seen joyriding in the park, which recently secured €185,000 to expand its playground, on both Monday and Tuesday mornings this week. Gardaí are investigating two separate incidents of the unauthorised taking of a vehicle on those mornings in the area.

One investigation centres around the unauthorised taking of a vehicle early on Monday morning at a residence near the South Douglas Road, Cork. “The vehicle was later involved in a collision with a parked vehicle at a nearby location. The driver failed to remain at the scene,” a garda statement said.

The vehicle was removed from the scene for a technical examination and investigations are ongoing.

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Gardaí are also investigating a burglary and the unauthorised taking of a vehicle in the early hours of Tuesday at a house near Donnybrook Hill, Cork. The vehicle was subsequently recovered in Ballinlough, Cork. 

The joyriders were seen filming their driving in the park, which is behind St Anthony’s Boys National School, between around 4am and 5am on Monday and Tuesday, sparking fears that when the videos are shared to social media it may encourage others to use the park for similar behaviour.

“There are about 30 kids, from 13 to 20, who go to train at the swimming pool just after 5am every morning," a local resident said. “And these kids were bombing around the area at that time. It’s dangerous and it’s frightening.

I rang the guards and they came from both sides of the park but the youths then drove up the pedestrian path to get away. The guards chased after them.

“Years ago there was anti-social behaviour in the area, a lot of parties in the park, but the community guard came and it all cleared up. That was annoying but this is actually dangerous. People are walking their dogs in the area at the time, kids are going to swimming. I’d be afraid about what could happen.” 

Sunday’s Well Swimming Club trains at the Leisureworld Gus Healy pool in Douglas. Joyriding was “a hazard to all concerned,” the club said. “SWSC, a competitive swim club trains early mornings and as such, coaches, parents and athletes have witnessed the joyriding and it’s certainly a hazard to all concerned,” a statement from the club said.

Another local resident who witnessed the joyriding on Monday and Tuesday morning this week said that it was a worry for residents. "And it’s not confined to the green areas of the park, they are on the roads too.

“A nurse coming home from a nightshift could meet them on the road or 4am or 5am. Or people out walking their dogs in the park could meet them, or kids going to swimming, it’s very scary.

There were three lads in the car, they’d take turns driving with one of them filming. There’s a #JoyridersCork hashtag on social media. I heard that a lot of the videos go on Snapchat and TikTok.

Local Fianna Fáil Councillor, Terry Shannon, said that he secured a €100,000 investment in the park to upgrade the playground with equipment like a climbing frame and inclusive playground equipment for children with additional needs. A new multi-purpose play area has secured €85,000 funding and the development is to begin in the coming months.

He said that hearing of the joyriding was a concern. “Kids had been bringing cars to a nearby car park for doughnuts but we had curbing put up around the car parking spaces and that deterred them.

“We want to nip this in the bud now too. Back then, we had a sting, like something out of SWAT, where gardaí surrounded the car park and caught the lads. We might need to make something like that happen again,” he said.