Councillors from Athlone Municipal District are hoping that the executive and Gardaí can work together to solve issues surrounding late night noise pollution caused by ‘boy racers’.
Speaking to the Advertiser, Cllr Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran said that the problem was county-wide, and that in Athlone specifically boy racers were currently congregating in Coosan Point.
“Every time we cut them off from somewhere in town they reappear somewhere else,” explained Cllr Moran, who added that although strategies to block them from areas such as the N6 centre, Golden Island, and Arcadia had worked to some extent, they simply moved to a new meeting point.
The problem, according to Cllr Moran, isn’t just noise pollution, but also the potential damage to roads and property they might cause, as well as road safety issues - explaining that it was only a small proportion of car enthusiasts that caused problems. “Most of these boy racer are respectful people, it’s just one or two that are causing the problem,” he said.
With the current spell of fine weather Cllr Moran believes more people are gathering at Coosan Point car park late at night, as evidenced by superficial damage being caused to the road surface. “What happens if they tear up the car park and the council has to pay for repairs?” he asked. “We might need to close Coosan Point at night eventually; we don’t want that with the RNLI lifeboat finally based here.”
Cllr Moran believes that the council has as much responsibility as the Gardaí when it comes to dealing with the issue of boy racers.
“They’re making noise from 11.40pm to 3am across the town, this isn’t fair on people, especially those living on their own. It’s a huge issue and both the Gardaí and the council need to look at creating policies and by laws that work. We need to bring forward policies that change people’s lives for the better,” he said.
Also raising the issue of noise pollution and boy racers, Cllr Michael O’Brien is encouraging residents of Silver Quay on the wtoen’s east side to meet with Gardaí to solve their eight month long plight. “This issue can be resolved easily, residents and Gardaí can work together to stop boy racers driving through Northgate Street late at night,” he said..
