A LOCAL community rep has warned that a child could be seriously injured after youths were found in the Royal Victoria Hospital steam tunnels at the weekend.
Security staff at the hospital and youth providers from the area were called to deal with teenagers who were congregating and drinking inside the hospital grounds and its underground tunnels on Saturday.
With hospitals under extreme pressure due to Covid-19, lower Falls Community Safety Officer, Lisa Lynn, urged parents to check on their kids’ whereabouts and warned of the potential for injury.
“They’re writing their names on walls with lighters and they’re swinging off the pipes, which carry hot steam, so if one of those pipes came loose it could completely disfigure a child,” she said.
“It has been an ongoing issue, we did highlight it during the summer and it seemed to have stopped, but this is older kids now congregating and drinking in there.
“We were made aware of it on Saturday evening so I contacted an outreach team in the youth organisations and they went over. There were a lot of wee girls there too who were all drinking. Bad enough they’re there, but when they’re drunk it’s not the best place to be.”
Ms Lynn said the crowds of youths had been trespassing close to where the Belfast Trust is administering the Covid-19 vaccine to staff.
“The vaccines are being distributed round the back of the Elliot Dynes building and when we drove up past the car park there was about 10 or 12 wee girls walking out with coffee cups, and some of them were a bit drunk – the footwork wasn’t working,” she said.
INTRUDERS: The Grosvenor Road entrance to the Royal Victoria Hospital
Community representative say the implementation of the latest lockdown has seen a “reduction” in the number of young people congregating throughout the Falls area. However, Ms Lynn said that those breaching restrictions and trespassing on hospital grounds have come from areas across the across Belfast.
“I don’t mean to keep blaming kids from outside the area, but a lot of these kids aren’t local kids from Divis and Grosvenor,” she explained. “They’re coming from as far as Poleglass, Twinbrook, Short Strand.
“Kids start to mix when they hit secondary school, their group of friends expands, so they start inviting ones from other areas down at the weekend, which you don’t mind if they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing but not now because there are restrictions in place.”
A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust stated: “The Belfast Trust are aware of the recent anti-social behaviour at Royal Victoria Hospital and are actively managing this regrettable situation. “The incident has been reported to the PSNI and RVH security staff will continue to liaise with police as the need arises.
“We acknowledge that this sort of activity adds to the distress of patients and visitors, as well as being very unsettling for the staff who care for them.
“Belfast Trust will not tolerate abuse of staff and disruption to our service. We are constantly reviewing our security measures to ensure easy access to the site for those who have a genuine reason for being there while still maintaining a safe environment.”
