Soccer pitches wrecked in Laytown

Two soccer pitches at Laytown's Seafield were badly vandalised by cars doing 'doughnuts' at the weekend, to the shock and disappointment of locals.

East Meath United and Laytown United cater for hundreds of youngsters and were disgusted to discover the damage on Saturday morning.

Local councillor Sharon Tolan who is PRO with East Meath United said she was 'utterly disgusted by the senseless act', when they all work so hard to raise money to improve facilities for local children.

She explained that those responsible moved a boulder to get on to the pitches and while initially they thought it may have been a quad that was used, from the tracks they now believe it was a car.

'Luckily we are not in the middle of the season. We have 21 teams with East Meath United and play the NDSC which is a summer soccer league starting in mid March so we have a bit of time.

'It would be very dangerous for a child to play on the pitch the way it is. It will need to be levelled off and reseeded.

'It is very frustrating. Our club is bursting at the seams- all the local sports clubs are- and need more space. We are trying to cobble together a few bob to expand and improve facilities and we don't need this extra cost.'

St Colmcille's Football Club is also based at the Seafield but there pitch has fencing and was not damaged. 'Over the last few months, St Colmcillles have done a big job on their pitch, levelling it, reseeding it and putting up new fencing and luckily their pitch wasn't damaged,' said Cllr Tolan.

The east Meath councillor said she will be in contact with Meath County Council to see if they can help them out with funding for fencing or security. There is also a problem with dogs fouling on the pitches and a fence would rseolve the issue.

'We are hoping the council will come on board and help us with security fencing. It would also keep the animals out. There is a problem with some dogs fouling. We have to check wth pitches every time for dog foul'.