Birr Charity's Headquarters Vandalised
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Dochas volunteers Peggy Higgins and Caroline Guy beside the sign outside the Dochas Office in Market Square, Birr, which was vandalised on Monday night. MT0791
The headquarters of Birr based cancer support group Dóchas was attacked by vandals earlier this week in what appears to be a senseless act of destruction.
The culprits slashed the support group's expensive handmade sign and scrawled the word 'killers' across the work by local artist and signsmith George Dempsey, which adorns the group's centre located in Market Square.
It is unclear if the vandals were motivated to write the shocking single word statement as an act of aggression towards the cancer support group, or if the graffiti is the result of perverse joke in extremely bad taste.
Dóchas had the impressive hand-painted sign installed in the days before Christmas at considerable expense, however the beautiful piece of work was completely destroyed after the vandals perforated the waterproofing exterior with a penknife or similar sharp implement.
'It is just sheer stupidity, I can't understand why anyone would ever do such a thing,' Caroline Guy, from Dóchas told the Tribune.
'I have no idea what would motivate someone to carve killers into a sign for cancer support group. They probably think it is funny, but there is nothing funny about cancer,' an angry and distraught Caroline said.
'We are a charity struggling for money and damage to our small few bits of property are the last thing we need. We have to fight hard for all our resources and now we are faced with an expensive replacement which is difficult to afford.
'George also worked very hard on the sign and it is a terrible shame to see his excellent work destroyed like this,' Caroline said.
Birr's Dóchas was last year officially recognised as an affiliate of the Irish Cancer Society and is now among a network of groups across Ireland who provide support and information to people living with cancer.
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