Locals have been left disgusted by the damage caused to the grounds of Malahide Castle following St Patrick's Day.
Residents and park staff woke this morning to serious damage to fencing at the cricket pitch along with severe littering on the grounds.
A number of celebrations are understood to have happened on the grounds last night despite lockdown restrictions remaining in place across Ireland.
One disgusted resident told Dublin Live: "These pictures aren't even the worst of it but I only thought to take photos later into my walk. They don't do it justice to just how bad it was. The damage was caused to the cricket ground.
"As a Malahide resident I find this beyond appalling and quite sad to see! I just thought it might be good to call this out whoever did it will most likely get away with it but know this will more than likely be the case for any nice day in the future."
Footage of the damage has also emerged that shows the extent of the breakage to the fencing, along with the rubbish that still remained despite intense cleanup efforts this morning.
The Enjoy Malahide community page shared the footage adding: "Very disappointed to see the mess and damage to the cricket club fences in the park this morning. Note that the park employee had already spent 45 minutes picking up broken bottles and cans by the time this video was taken."
While one resident added: "Absolutely disgraceful. I was in the Castle early recently and there was evidence of at least four separate ‘parties’."
It seems that in the afternoon of St Patrick's Day many were enjoying the sunshine in a safe and distanced way before the mayhem unfolded.
Another resident said: "That is so sad. I was remarking to myself yesterday afternoon how at that time there were no big gangs and everyone was keeping social space while enjoying the sunshine. So disappointing to see this now."
A spokesman for Fingal County Council said: “Fingal County Council was alerted to the vandalism caused late yesterday evening and overnight on the grounds of Malahide Castle, and have cleaned the litter from the area this morning.
"The fencing surrounding the cricket pitch is currently being repaired and the Council are liaising with An Garda Síochána on this matter.”
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