Mayor blames “mindless fools” for local graffiti spree

The Mayor of Athlone has branded the perpetrators of a graffiti spree around the town last week as “mindless fools with a can of red paint” and has issued an appeal for anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

In a hard-hitting Facebook post, Mayor Aengus O’Rourke, made reference to the fact that, in the same week as Athlone was confirmed as the second cleanest town in the country in the latest Irish Business Against Litter survey, many locations were also defaced by graffiti.

Among the areas spray-painted with red paint were the walls outside St. Paul’s National School on Lyster Street; the playground in Parnell Square and the walls outside the Town Library in the Athlone Civic Centre.

Cllr O’Rourke confirmed that local Gardai are “studying CCTV” from all the areas which were defaced, and he issued a direct appeal for anyone with information about the graffiti to contact Athlone Gardai on 090 6492609, or to private message him and the information will be passed on to Gardai.

Among the messages painted in the graffiti spree was one on the walls outside Parnell Square playground which described it as a “prision for kids” and another on the walls outside St. Paul’s National School reading “toxic playground.” A number of Covid-19 signs outside the Lyster Street school were also defaced with red paint in the shocking incident.