Break-in at Community Centre

A break-in at the Community Sports Centre in the early hours of Friday morning resulted in an estimated €1,500 worth of damage when the perpetrators failed in their objective.


Centre manager P J Lydon looks at the damage to the electrical system caused when the Coke machine was tipped over.

"They were after the money in the Coke machine, and used a concrete block and a large stone to smash a pane of glass to gain entry," centre manager P J Lydon told the Diary. "But they were unable to break the machine, which is the six-sided steel kind and vandal-proof, so they smashed three more large glass panes, probably because they were annoyed."


The stone and concrete block which were used to break in and do the damage.

The incident happened at 4.30am, and was captured on the centre's CCTV system. It is the first serious break-in since the system was installed.

The Diary understands that the offenders appear to have been juveniles, and the question arises as to what young people that age were doing out at that hour, and whether their parents were aware of their absence from home?


P J Lydon shows the window, now repaired, where the thieves broke in.

"They are believed to have been locals, because there was no car involved, and they didn't have any professional equipment," P J Lydon said. He said it appeared that they had walked down from the Nicholastown side of the campus, adding that he's hopeful they will be identified from the CCTV record.

Brian Byrne.