Vandals target club for children with special needs for the second time this year

The Meeting Place Club, which started 10 years ago is the first integrated group for teens and adults with a wide range of special needs.

It had been working from the allotment in Finglas for the last eight years

Volunteer at the club Sandra Dillon said parents worked hard to create a paradise garden for the children.

"We built a sensory area, somewhere they can come and be safe, where they can learn to use their skills to grow their own produce," she said.

"And just in as much as we could as parents, we were hoping to put a little wooden house in their and open up a craft shop."

When volunteers returned this week following a break they discovered that their allotments had been destroyed.

It's believed a gan of up to 10 teenagers were responsible- and they didn't just target the garden.

Sandra said a neighbouring house was also targetted.

She said: "They destroyed all the sensory stuff, they pulled stuff off the walls, but what I think what was more upsetting for us was the adjoining house to our allotment was stoned and they broke all the windows."

Volunteers say they are now racing to have the place fixed before Friday when the club members will come around to do a cooking course.