A fire that was started at the back of the Community Centre in Renmore in the early hours of yesterday morning (Tuesday) will cost the local soccer club over €5,000.

Pictured (LtoR) at the Renmore Soccer Club?s temporary holding container where the damage occurred are Cllr Michael Crowe, Denis Mulgannon, Niall Murphy, Peter Power, and Terry Lee of the Renmore Soccer Club.

The fire, which was started by a number of youths drinking in the area, caused extensive damage to Renmore Soccer Club's temporary holding container, which held gear, nets, cones and footballs.

It's understood the youths lit the fire to keep themselves warm while drinking and it went out of control at around 1am on Tuesday 30 October. The heat from the fire caused a lot of the damage to the club's property.

The youths were interrupted by gardaí who arrived at the scene.

Councillor Michael Crowe, who is Chairman of the Renmore club, was at the scene early on Tuesday morning. He said this is a major setback for the club and, without the garda intervention, the damage could have been a lot worse.

"I have spoken before about the dangers of late night drinking in fields such as here but it still continues. The fire was started by a number of youths who were drinking here and it seems that it got out of control. As a result the club has suffered a loss in excess of €5,000.

"Time and again I have highlighted the amount of illegal drinking going on in Galway, particularly the amount of Buckfast and the dangers it presents.

"This club work hard for the area, provide a good service and now on top of all other costs will have to suffer this loss."

Cllr Crowe said the youths involved are being questioned by gardaí and the club is investigating whether they can compensate for the loss. He said measures must be put in place to tackle bush drinking between community representatives and gardaí.

"I have met with other members of the club to assess the damage and see where we go from here. This was only a temporary container, which is to be in place until next year when hopefully the new club house will be built," said Cllr Crowe.

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