Locals defend estate's honour
Meeting on the Green: Residents of Moyvane's Wood Grove estate on their way to a meeting on the green on Saturday to discuss harassment claims made by a local family. A residents' association is in the process of being set up as a result of the meeting. Credit: Photo by John Reidy
A MOYVANE family's claim that they are contatanly being harrassed by thugs has been met with a sharp rebuttal from neighbours who insist their estate is quiet and peaceful.
Speaking to The Kerryman last week, Lena Kiely told how her husband sustained broken and fractured ribs on January 10 when he and his two sons stood up to a gang of up to 20 youths who pelted their house with eggs and snowballs containing lumps of coal.
Ms Kiely also said her family have been the target of continual attacks by youths for the last three years at their home in the Wood Grove estate.
However, other residents of the same estate insist that it is a neighbourly and peaceful place.
"That's not the picture of Wood Grove that I know," said resident Christina Hanlon. "Our kids do not behave like that and in six years of living here I haven't once seen any thuggish behaviour."
Speaking about the alleged incident in the estate on January 10, Ms Hanlon said: "I was out for a while on the night and I only witnessed a lot of children having fun in the snow. I certainly didn't see any snowballs containing lumps of coal being thrown and I was even hit myself by a snowball, but it was all in fun."
"I don't know of any children here who did damage on the day, they're not saints obviously, but it's all harmless fun, more or less, with them. And I know that nearly all my neighbours would agree with me," she added.
John Joe Quinn, who has lived in the estate for 25 years, said he was very angry at the way Woodgrove had been portrayed.
"I didn't see the incident that night, but I've lived here for 25 years and I've never seen any thugs. Our estate is perfect and there's a great sense of community. I have three or four neighbours in my house most nights, or I call to other homes, it's very tight-knit. We don't want to see our estate being degraded. We have no thugs here and we have nothing to do with thugs," he said.
Resident Caroline Maune said she would return to her native Limerick but for the safe and peaceful environment Woodgrove provides in which to raise her children.
"I was very angry with the portrayal of my estate in that way. On the night in question the kids were only throwing snowballs at each other on the road, there were no eggs or coal thrown," she said. You'd see more trouble in a nursing home than in Woodgrove usually, you couldn't honestly have a nicer place to bring up kids."
- DONAL NOLAN dnolan@kerryman.ie
