Developer responsible for site, say councils

Workers repair fences at the Glenatore development at Athlone where a toddler drowned on Thursday.Photograph: Hany Marzouk

EOGHAN Mac CONNELL

THE TIGHT-KNIT community in Rindoon Park and Hazelwood in Athlone was still coming to terms yesterday with the tragic drowning of Liam Keogh (2).

The child drowned in a small pool of water on Thursday after following a dog on to an unfinished estate a couple of hundred metres from his home at Hazelwood, Coosan, Athlone, Co Westmeath.

Floral tributes adorned the wire-mesh fence the boy is believed to have passed through on his way to the Glenatore development where he was found. “Sleep well Liam, in the arms of angels,” one card read.

Residents of the well-kept neighbourhood remain shocked over the incident. One, Lucy Brennan, was not surprised children played in the unfinished estate. “There’s nowhere for children to play, only out on the road with cars coming up and down,” she said. “Those houses should never have been built there, they should have made a play area instead.”

Another Rindoon Park resident, Noel Benson, said he had seen children playing in the development. The unfinished development, he said, had been “basically like that” for three years. He said the residents’ committee had tried to have improvements carried out but “no one knows who owns it”. “I just spoke to a few people yesterday and everybody was dumbfounded, shocked,” he added. “It’s a terrible tragedy, the poor little mite.”

Local TD Nicky McFadden (FG), who visited the family yesterday, was horrified at what had occurred. “It’s not about blame, it’s horrendous, such a tragedy,” she said. “My heart goes out to the family, absolutely goes out to the family. It’s horrendous.” While the development had been an issue in the locality, Ms McFadden said no one had contacted her in relation to it. “Nobody was in touch with me. I don’t think it’s about blame.”

One woman who lives very close to where the child was discovered said she had been to the council about the development.

“I went into Westmeath County Council, it must be about three years like this,” she said. “Nobody has taken any responsibility for this. If you go into Westmeath County Council they say there is no money,” she added. The woman, who said she was unsure of who was in charge of the development, recalled she often saw children with dogs playing in the development.

Another Rindoon Park resident said she thought small children had followed bigger ones into the project. She believed children may have made holes in the fence.

Westmeath County Council and Athlone Town Council issued a joint statement which sympathised “deeply with the family of the late Liam Keogh”.

“In response to queries,” it added, “the council can confirm that this estate was identified as an unfinished development in accordance with criteria set out by the Department of Environment Community and Local Government.

“According to these criteria, this development is identified as Category 3, being a development ‘where the developer is in place but there is no on-site activity and the developer is responsible for managing the site from a public safety perspective’.”

Athlone council is processing a planning application to retain and complete the development.

Members of Liam’s family asked that their privacy be respected. Liam is to be buried after funeral Mass at St Mary’s Church in Coosan at 10.30am on Monday.

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