Boarded up council properties becoming dumping grounds for syringes and other drug paraphernalia

Sinn Féin Councillor John Brady has called on Bray Town Council to take immediate action to ensure boarded up houses in the town are reallocated immediately to ensure needy families and individuals are housed and to stop them becoming magnets for antisocial behaviour and dumping grounds for syringes and other drug paraphernalia. The councillor made after a large volume of used syringes and other drug paraphernalia was found at a property that has been boarded up by the council for over 4 months.

Cllr Brady said "We have a scandalous situation around the County and particularly in Bray where we have over a thousand families on social housing lists, but the council are keeping houses boarded up for months on end allowing them to become magnets for antisocial behaviour and dumping grounds for syringes and drug paraphernalia".

"I had been contacted by a number of very concerned locals in relation to a large stash of used syringes and other drug paraphernalia in the back garden of a council property that has been boarded up by the council now for over four months. This is totally unacceptable on a number of fronts, firstly that the house is being used as a drug den and that these syringes are being discarded in a highly built up residential area where large numbers of children are playing. Secondly its scandalous that when council houses are handed back they are left lying vacant for months and months on end, there is a housing crisis and this is totally unacceptable. This is a relatively new house and someone should be living in it, that's how unacceptable activity like this is stopped".

Brady continued "This is unfortunately not an isolated incident, but the scale of it exceeds previous syringe finds. Myself and a local resident immediately cleaned up the syringes using specialist equipment. The material was put in a sealed container and handed into Bray Garda station for disposal. In total over 30 syringes were discovered along with other drug materials".

Brady concluded "The use of the council property and the disposal of the used syringes is a shameful act and the perpetrators need to cop on and clear off. I have been in touch with the council to have the property properly checked and have any other drug paraphernalia removed. This property and the many others around the town need to be secured, cleanup and reallocated immediately in an attempt to deal with the housing crisis that exists and to ensure disgrace acts like this that are a real threat to children and others in the town are brought to an end".