Residents from Gurranabraher say they are confident that promises made by Cork City Council and the Gardaí to stamp out anti-social behaviour in the area will prove fruitful following a meeting on Tuesday night.

Close to 200 people attended the meeting to address the issue of anti-social behaviour, which residents say has been increasing steadfastly. During the meeting Cork City Council came in for criticism for their slow reaction to the growing concerns in the area.

There were strong calls also for an increase in facilities for the youth of the area, which has been earmarked for a 120 million regeneration project, while parents were also warned of the dangers not exercising strong parental control in the fight against anti-social-behaviour.

The Residents Association meeting followed on from an incident on Sunday evening when a local 13-year old boy was engulfed in flames on wasteland at Mount St Joseph's Avenue on Bakers Road in Gurranabraher.

Although details of the exact circumstances around the accident are yet to be confirmed, reports have suggested the youth, Cian Callanan from Mount Nebo Avenue in Gurranabraher, was among a group of up to six youths aged between 13 and 16 sniffing petrol from a plastic bottle.

The family of the 13-year-old, who sustained 42% first degree burns to his body in the accident, have adamantly denied these reports, instead claiming the incident occurred when the group of youths were fixing a quad bike. Gardaí in Gurranabraher say a bottle of petrol was found at the scene but that there was no motorbike.

Suzanne Downey, Public Relations and Communications Officer at Our Ladies Hospital, Dublin, where the boy was transferred, says the youth's condition remains critical but stable following an operation on Tuesday.

A resident from the area who attended Tuesday nights meeting, and whom asked to remain nameless, said, "The behaviour that led to Sunday nights accident has been reported before. There were phone calls made on that night, but the response was too slow. This behaviour needs to be stopped because it is making life difficult for the people living here.

Fine Gael Councillor Joe O'Callaghan, while quick to praise the work of local Gardaí, says Sunday's incident is symptomatic of the current situation whereby young people in the area are given little access to extra curricular activities. "The Gardaí are generally very good at responding to calls," he said, "and they have a good relationship with the people of Gurranabraher. However, this incident raises the questions of idle hands with little to do.

"While there is lots of sports areas, the fact remains that not everybody plays sports and in that regard there is hardly sufficient enough facilities for young people here. For example, there are three terraces here that between them have nearly 400 children under the age of 13. Where do they go?"

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