Matches at Croke Park can be joyous occasions, but they bring a certain level of dread for staff at the nearby Community After School Project (CASPr) in Dublin’s northeast inner city.
Each day, staff attempt to keep 30 or so children as young as six to one end of a long room in an ageing building within the confines of Mountjoy Square Park, due to a continuous and strong smell of urine.
A rusting door at the rear, used by staff to enter the premises, is urinated on “every day” by passersby and park users – and, during big occasions in Croke Park, match-goers.
The door has holes at its base with more forming through the rust, allowing the urine to enter.
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Lino flooring inside, meanwhile, is stained from various attempts by staff to wash away the smell over the years with “industrial strength” cleaning products.
During a warm day last week, CASPr’s chief executive Dr Tom O’Brien pointed to the corner of the building that is so often used as a toilet while children are inside.
“My nose is kind of blocked, but the smell is building up here, you can smell it, it’s gone in under the building,” he said.
Staff find themselves “dreading every Monday”, particularly after matches at Croke Park, he said.
“The smell when you go in, it’s just against human dignity to have that smell, for children particularly.”
Any sort of issue you’re trying to address, it’s very slow to get responses, it makes you feel disempowered, voiceless. You kind of give up after a while
— CASPr chief executive Dr Tom O’Brien
Initially set up by local parents in 1995 to tackle educational disadvantage, CASPr provides a space for children to get help with homework, take part in activities and go on trips.
“It’s about keeping the children in education but it’s also about giving them a consistent place to come each day – because otherwise, it’s running the streets of Seán McDermott Street and Summerhill, which are open havens to get into the wrong lifestyle,” said Ruth Breen, CASPr’s designated safeguarding and community liaison officer.
The project at Mountjoy Square Park is to be relocated to the site of a creche within the Hardwicke Street flats, though this is contingent on the creche’s relocation to the original Rutland Street School building which is undergoing redevelopment.
“This is my third year as CEO but this is going on 10 years, this promise of moving,” Dr O’Brien said.
Long-term issues inside the building, meanwhile, include non-functioning heating, leading to children wearing coats inside in the winter.
The most pressing issue for staff, however, is the frequent urination, for which repeated requests for assistance from the council have been made.
Jasmine Cumiskey, a staff member who had just told a man to stop urinating on the door, said the smell is at its “worst” in the summer months.
“You’re trying to keep 30 kids to one end of the room because the smell is so bad,” she said.
Council officials visited in May to assess the issues, which was “encouraging”, staff say, though there has been “little to no follow-up” since then.
“Any sort of issue you’re trying to address, it’s very slow to get responses, it makes you feel disempowered, voiceless. You kind of give up after a while,” Dr O’Brien said.
Asked about the ongoing issues, Dublin City Council said a contractor has been appointed to carry out essential repairs “without delay.”
The works are expected to be completed by the end of July, the council said, and will include the installation of an aluminium “emergency door”, and the replacement of the floor lino near the rear door.
It said communication will continue with management concerning the relocation to the Hardwicke Street flats, which has been “agreed in principle”.
“Dublin City Council remains committed to ensuring the safety and functionality of community facilities across the city,” it said.
