Clonsilla Graffiti

Finglas Incubus

The Clonsilla Link Road has become a blackspot for graffiti in recent times. The council will not assist in the clean-up due to the fact that the graffiti is on private boundary walls (Castlefield estate, albeit facing out onto a public road).

I'd be interested to hear from other groups who have organised clean-ups of this nature in their local area - with or without the assistance of the council. In addition, what removal techniques would others recommend with an emphasis on safety (i.e. non-caustic/acidic compounds)?

daymobrew

If it is on ESB boxes then you can inform them and they will probably clean it.

Is Castlefield taken in charge? If not then that is why they are considered "private walls".
If it is taken in charge, and the graffiti is facing onto the public road, it is not the responsibility of the home owner. FCC are very good at avoiding doing the work that they should be doing. You need to be persistent, contact the councillors (ask them to submit questions and you can read the answers in the minutes). If that fails, consider contacting the Gazette newspaper with photos.

EDIT: This reply about graffiti outside CCC says that home owners are responsible for cleaning from private boundary walls. I don't know where exactly the graffiti is but such responsibility is very harsh.

EDIT: I see the question in FCC meeting minutes on this topic, and the reply you mentioned.

wildlifeboy

the best graffiti in blanch is near there on a wall facing the blanchardstown road simply saying "Lohunda is gay"

Finglas Incubus

daymobrew wrote: »

EDIT: This reply about graffiti outside CCC says that home owners are responsible for cleaning from private boundary walls. I don't know where exactly the graffiti is but such responsibility is very harsh.

EDIT: I see the question in FCC meeting minutes on this topic, and the reply you mentioned.

I agree that the stance is harsh - black and white from FCCs perspective. I can see why there are myriad reasons why the council would abdicate responsibility (some with merit), however, its a grey area when such walls face out on to onto a public road, it really pulls down the visual amenity in its current state.

I spoke with one of our councillors and he outlined the 'private boundary wall' constraint, there was a suggestion that perhaps this was a job for someone on community service but I'm not sure thats the answer in the big scheme of things...

Diddler1977

The entrance way to my estate got covered in graffiti a few years ago. I bought Graffiti remover from Woodies and it took it off easy enough - but I think it was very caustic as far as I can remember.

iMADEtheBBC

hats off to whoever keeps covering up the graffiti on the Dr Troy bridge (at least that's what I think it's called) over the train line at the end of the Diswellstown Road.

Also well done to whoever it was took it upon themselves to repaint over the green ESB boxes on the Diswellstown Road.

My car was graffiti'd : yes my car. Parked in my driveway and was sprayed all over while I was out one night. The same individual who has been using the tags BzP and SZ.

I feel sorry for the neighbour next to CCC who has a massive amount of vandalism on their garden wall because of these little turds.

daymobrew

iMADEtheBBC wrote: »

My car was graffiti'd : yes my car. Parked in my driveway and was sprayed all over while I was out one night. The same individual who has been using the tags BzP and SZ.

It is worth photographing the tags and reporting it to the Gardai. If they catch that turd then they can be charged with your crime.

are you serious

daymobrew wrote: »

It is worth photographing the tags and reporting it to the Gardai. If they catch that turd then they can be charged with your crime.

Yes it is absolutely worth it, I know of one fella who had the cheek to spray the side of a Garda Van parked outside a station in town. He was then caught on CCTV on Grafton street a few weeks later.

In Blanchardstown it will mostly boil down to people picking up the phone and reporting these things being done as they see it, too many people are willing to walk past and think to themselves "look at them little fu#ks" but not doing anything about it!!! Maybe afraid to report it....

When I was growing up, there was a community watch sticker in my mam's house in the back of the house and also the front porch window.... I think everyone had one... anyway, I remember all the aul lads living there would not have had anyone going around wrecking the estate with Graffiti... (when I say aul lads, these were men in their 30's, but to me back then they were old!!)

Why doesn't someone get off their arse, stop typing their complaints on Boards knock into their Neighbours and god forbid talk to them asking would they be interested setting up a committee of some sort to stop this stuff going on, surely some more of the "aul lads" would also have a pain in the arse with these little ****s ruining their good estates!!!

Lets face it, everyone here agrees with you OP, but how many of us live in that estate, maybe 1 if your very very lucky!!

Just so I'm clear, I'm not talking about lads going around like vigilante's battering kids or anything, just simply telling kids to piss off does work, after all they are just that kids, why should adults be afraid to say something to children!!!

Think_then_talk

If you report it to the Garda they will make a note of it.
Then the you can ask the Probation & Welfare (community service's section) to have a look as they are removing graffiti from the city they have two van's on the road. In Dublin they have being doing some very good work around the city.

Finglas Incubus

Why doesn't someone get off their arse, stop typing their complaints on Boards knock into their Neighbours and god forbid talk to them asking would they be interested setting up a committee of some sort to stop this stuff going on

If you read my original post you'll note that it was not simply a complaint, it was an attempt to raise awareness of the issue at hand and at the same time illicit feedback and information regarding graffiti removal techniques - the intent being to get up off my arse and do something about it.

Is there anyone out there with a generator who would be willing to loan it out for a couple of hours some evening? If so, get in touch - I'd be happy to get the pressure washer out and have a go at cleaning the walls in question.

are you serious

Jaysus, I was trying to help with my reply, not get at you for not doing anything!!!

I saw the graffiti yesterday (more I took notice of it)

I used to work for a company who specialised in what you want to do (Nolan's MPC) that graffiti will not come off with just water. If your going to use a power washer there's a possibility a bit will come off with cold water, if you could organise to get a bruner that heats the water you'l probably get a lot of the graffiti off with hot water, but then there's a chance of the paint also coming off the wall as well as the graffiti. (some spray/paint cans simply put will not come off without the use of specific cleaners for the job) Even then with specific cleaners, your always risking that you will take off the underlying paint!

From someone who used to do this work my advice would be that it you are going to do something about it, you would probably be better off to paint straight over it.

iMADEtheBBC

I took photographs and posted them here and on other online forums.

I reported it to the Gardai and took time off work to give them details.
They took details. I told them that the entire estate was hit that night including other cars and people's houses. Same tag, same individual(s).

Their response? "Do you have CCTV?"

The local secondary school has been plagued with this and they have communicated to parents to keep an eye out. We got SMS messages on this only last weekend.

Anti social problems like this don't get tackled.

The individual responsible has tagged all the way from Porterstown Gate, through Carpenterstown, Bramley, Laurel Lodge, Luttrellstown, Coolmine and Clonsilla.

"SZ" and "BzP". Someone knows who he/she/they are.

iMADEtheBBC

are you serious wrote: »

Just so I'm clear, I'm not talking about lads going around like vigilante's battering kids or anything, just simply telling kids to piss off does work, after all they are just that kids, why should adults be afraid to say something to children!!!

Shall I share with you what happened when I told half a dozen kids (all of primary school age) to get out of a neighbours garden? The garden was a building site at the time and dangerous.

The following morning one of their parents. A neighbour. Came around to my house and accused me of assaulting his son. He tried to force entry into my house and when I called the Gardai I had to deal with an accusation of assault.

That's what happens when you "do something".

Since then I do nothing. I didn't get support from the neighbour who should have had the building site secured and would have been liable if one of the kids had been hurt, I didn't get support from the parents of the other kids who could have been injured. I didn't get support from the Gardai.

So, no, if it's all the same I won't bother in future.

iMADEtheBBC

Finglas Incubus wrote: »

Is there anyone out there with a generator who would be willing to loan it out for a couple of hours some evening? If so, get in touch - I'd be happy to get the pressure washer out and have a go at cleaning the walls in question.

I don't but perhaps the neighbour would let you plug an extension lead in?

BlazingSaddler

are you serious wrote: »

From someone who used to do this work my advice would be that it you are going to do something about it, you would probably be better off to paint straight over it.

Hi. This graffiti is a real eyesore. I doubt whether the residents of Castlefield are too concerned as they are not the ones who see it. The residents of Mount Symon removed graffiti from this wall maybe 5 or more years back. The residents association was fairly active at the time so a good few turned out to have a go, I don't think this would happen now. The best thing to do on walls like this is surely to grow a number of climbers like Ivy up the walls, even though it does look better when painted, with it being a pebble dashed wall it still looks a little unsightly.

whatsername42

mattb74 wrote: »

Hi. This graffiti is a real eyesore. I doubt whether the residents of Castlefield are too concerned as they are not the ones who see it. The residents of Mount Symon removed graffiti from this wall maybe 5 or more years back. The residents association was fairly active at the time so a good few turned out to have a go, I don't think this would happen now. The best thing to do on walls like this is surely to grow a number of climbers like Ivy up the walls, even though it does look better when painted, with it being a pebble dashed wall it still looks a little unsightly.

Agreed it's gotten much worse lately...it gives a bad impression heading up towards mount symon...thing is that it was removed before and the sc*mbags just came back and did it again. Pointless providing them with a clean canvas really.

The Dark Knight

whatsername42 wrote: »

........ Pointless providing them with a clean canvas really.

Then Society just says that we don't care what they do..... and we accept the Scumbags!!!
Too much of that going around in this and other western countries. At some stage we must say No, this is not acceptable.

I like the idea around planting creeping plants, etc along the wall (similar to the ongar road). Any chance of the Council doing this?

Larbre34

It may not be on the local Councillors radar, tell them you want it cleaned and planted with creepers and that its a huge local issue of concern. - "Broken window syndrome"

Remind them its only 19 months to the local elections!

whatsername42

The Dark Knight wrote: »

Then Society just says that we don't care what they do..... and we accept the Scumbags!!!
Too much of that going around in this and other western countries. At some stage we must say No, this is not acceptable.

I like the idea around planting creeping plants, etc along the wall (similar to the ongar road). Any chance of the Council doing this?

Sorry - didn't mean to come across as not caring - just frustrating when you think of the trouble some people went to to clean the graffiti and it was all in vain. The idea of creepers is a good one but there is a chance that they will also be vandalised. But you're right - we can't give up.

Finglas Incubus

mattb74 wrote: »

Hi. This graffiti is a real eyesore. I doubt whether the residents of Castlefield are too concerned as they are not the ones who see it. The residents of Mount Symon removed graffiti from this wall maybe 5 or more years back. The residents association was fairly active at the time so a good few turned out to have a go, I don't think this would happen now.

No doubt Castlefield residents would be happy to see this problem go away as much as other local residents. I was involved with the clean-up exercise you mention, the issue was much less severe and was easier to rectify. We used pretty caustic removal products at the time and I'm not the same approach would work given the increased level of graffiti and obvious safety concerns.

I mentioned earlier in the thread that the council consider this issue to be out of their hands on the basis that the walls are considered private property. I note that similar 'boundary walls' in estates like Whitestown get a grey paint treatment from time to time, I wonder if this is the work of the council or local residents? Either way, I believe that a collaborative approach between the council and residents from both estates would be worth investigating. Castlefield residents, feel free to get in touch....

Hilly Bill

The council paint the walls grey.

murphaph

Once it gets out of hand it's almost impossible to stop. Berlin is now plagued with it and they are getting bolder: trains are now regularly destroyed by these scumbags. Dublin has a chance tbh...graffiti is still not a huge problem there. Now is the time to nip it in the bud!

random destruction in Berlin

zoobizoo

If you want to take care of the issue yourself you can get some safe and non-toxic graffiti remover from here:

www.graffitiwipeout.net.

You don't need a power washer with this stuff. Only takes a bit of time and a bit of scrubbing.

With your local councillors, get onto them as the problem is getting worse and early deletion and constant eradication deters vandals and they'll go elsewhere.

Finglas Incubus

On a positive note, the council recently undertook limited tree and shrub planting at the site of the graffiti. Soon after, some clowns came along and snapped a few of the newly planted trees in half, words fail me... :mad:

are you serious

I think the idea of ivy/wall creepers for this stretch would be the beat option.

Or how about even opening up the wall for graffiti to actually be allowed to be sprayed onto it?

There are certain places in Dublin City Centre where it is actually allowed and the artwork the lads put up is not bad at all. It is a lot better than the random scribbled(names) scrawled all over the wall down there.

amdublin

murphaph wrote: »

Once it gets out of hand it's almost impossible to stop. Berlin is now plagued with it and they are getting bolder: trains are now regularly destroyed by these scumbags. Dublin has a chance tbh...graffiti is still not a huge problem there. Now is the time to nip it in the bud!

random destruction in Berlin

At least there is an element of "art" to this. Random spray painting of names etc is just vandalism IMO.

I think the creepers sounds like a good idea.

The Dark Knight

are you serious wrote: »

I think the idea of ivy/wall creepers for this stretch would be the beat option.

Totally Agree.... if the thugs don't rip them out as they have broken the trees.
Though that it may be some Castlefield Court residents that planted these and not the council. Wonder why they didn't do the whole stretch. Anybody know?

are you serious wrote: »

Or how about even opening up the wall for graffiti to actually be allowed to be sprayed onto it?

There are certain places in Dublin City Centre where it is actually allowed and the artwork the lads put up is not bad at all. It is a lot better than the random scribbled(names) scrawled all over the wall down there.

No, No, No. NO!!!
That should never be done. This would give all the wrong signals. Saying that it's ok to break the law.
It would also make the situation worse in adjoining areas.

are you serious

The Dark Knight wrote: »

No, No, No. NO!!!
That should never be done. This would give all the wrong signals. Saying that it's ok to break the law.
It would also make the situation worse in adjoining areas.

You would be surprised how much it actually would reduce it in adjoining areas if these lads know how there is a massive wall allowing their work to be put up on it.

If they are allowed to do it they would just have the wall completely covered, it wouldnt be like it is now.

Ah sure look I'm sounding like I'm backing these lads (which I'm not) I just think they should be given somewhere they can do this in each area. Fair enough that wall is maybe the wrong place, but if they were given a specific place they would be less inclined to do it there.

daymobrew

are you serious wrote: »

Ah sure look I'm sounding like I'm backing these lads (which I'm not) I just think they should be given somewhere they can do this in each area. Fair enough that wall is maybe the wrong place, but if they were given a specific place they would be less inclined to do it there.

Is the skate park in Millennium Park a place where graffiti is tolerated?

Morag

daymobrew wrote: »

Is the skate park in Millennium Park a place where graffiti is tolerated?

On the concrete structures for skating on, it is as it's seen as part of that culture, but anything obscene gets removed if reported.

ozmo

Finglas Incubus wrote: »

On a positive note, the council recently undertook limited tree and shrub planting at the site of the graffiti. Soon after, some clowns came along and snapped a few of the newly planted trees in half, words fail me... :mad:

Hi - if you are refering to the Castlefield wall - yes that was actually the residents that did the planting - Fingal supplied the plants - thanks Fingal

The graffiti is painted over every few months by the residents (Council wont do it) - but it keeps coming back - graffiti removers don't work on pebble-dash walls.
- it took two years to organise the plants to try hide the walls - and then someone keeps robbing the support sticks.....hopefully they survive the winter....

Photos here: http://castlefieldwoods.blogspot.ie/2012/08/planting-on-shelerin-road-wall.html

zoobizoo

ozmo wrote: »

graffiti removers don't work on pebble-dash walls.

They do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aOofXHq09RQ

Finglas Incubus

ozmo wrote: »

Hi - if you are refering to the Castlefield wall - yes that was actually the residents that did the planting - Fingal supplied the plants - thanks Fingal

The wall in question borders the Clonsilla Link Road and Castlefield Court, the one in your pic appears to be inside the estate, perhaps the Park or Woods? See below courtesy of Google maps. The entire wall has been defaced since.



@Ozmo, Castlefield Woods appears to have an active RA, do you know if the Court & Park fall under the same umbrella?

ozmo

zoobizoo wrote: »

They do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aOofXHq09RQ

Thats brilliant - thanks for the link - Ill forward it to them.
Ive tried everything I could find before - stuff from ebay, grinders, turps and some grifitti removers woodies sell - nothing shifts it.

ozmo

Finglas Incubus wrote: »

The wall in question borders the Clonsilla Link Road and Castlefield Court, the one in your pic appears to be inside the estate, perhaps the Park or Woods? See below courtesy of Google maps. The entire wall has been defaced since.



@Ozmo, Castlefield Woods appears to have an active RA, do you know if the Court & Park fall under the same umbrella?

Oh - yes, sorry - a different wall - photo is from the opposite side of Castlefield estate - the 100m wall along Shelerin road wall - just behind the trees link

Castlefield Woods have a RA (website www.castlefieldwoods.com )
Its quite active, has several events per year (BBQs on green, clean ups, christmas parties etc) and meets with Fingal once a year.

Castlefield Park dont have a RA right now - but they have been known to rally together when needed - like when the trees in the middle of the green were going to be cut down...

Finglas Incubus

Quick update - the graffiti in question was removed recently, reports suggest that a professional contractor undertook the works, I'm assuming under the auspices of the council? If so, its good to note that FCC are taking positive action in such cases.

BlazingSaddler

Credit where credit's due on this one, they have done everything that we could ask. Climbers planted pretty much the full way up the length of the wall and the graffiti removed. Let's hope the plants are given time to grow and the wall stays graffiti free.

travist

Out of interest, what could be done if you catch someone in the act of graffiti? I mean, say you are driving by at night and see someone defacing a wall.

murphaph

travist wrote: »

Out of interest, what could be done if you catch someone in the act of graffiti? I mean, say you are driving by at night and see someone defacing a wall.

Well, it's a criminal act so you'd call the Guards at least. If the person in question was someone you feel you could challenge, I'd do that personally, but I wouldn't advise that generally.

Murt10

zoobizoo wrote: »

They do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aOofXHq09RQ

Massive job satisfaction with that job.

BlazingSaddler

Well it didn't take long to reappear did it? If anybody sees the muppet who is painting faces over all the walls in Ongar and Clonsilla please try to get a picture or some sort of description to the guards.

Finglas Incubus

mattb74 wrote: »

Well it didn't take long to reappear did it?

Saw that this afternoon, what a clown.