Castlefen Residents have responded to Halloween night’s disturbance saying while they unreservedly condemn the incident, that is not representative and that a lot of work is being done in the estate with and by the residents to improve facilities for all.

I have also called for calm and credit is due to the community in their response. The incident was unacceptable and I’ve called on the Gardaí to fully investigate but it is critical an entire community not be judged on the basis of a single incident and the actions of a few individuals.

I do not believe an entire estate should be stigmatized on the basis of one incident. It is important to acknowledge the really solid work being done by the residents group and to understand that the significant majority of residents in the estate are ordinary, decent, hard working people and are very troubled by this incident but also by all the adverse publicity it has generated which is not reflective of the wider community.

Mr. John McLoughlin, Chairperson of the Castlefen Community Group, said that the estate was shocked by the incident but said they would continue to work to provide facilities within the estate for all residents and that they would continue the work they are engaged in as a community. When I spoke to John, he stated that “we have worked very hard to leverage the strong community ethos that is already here in the estate, we have a community centre now within Castlefen, we organise supervised events regularly and we work closely with the council and all the local authorities to secure greater facilities and continue community development”.