THE owner of a vacant shop in Carew Park has responded to calls from local residents for the building to be knocked.

Owner, Mary Ryan, contacted the Limerick Post in response to last week’s article, in which locals claimed the premises attracted anti-social behaviour and should be demolished.

She replied: “The building poses no risk...it has been assessed and is considered a safe and solid structure”.

She believes that reported anti-social behaviour has been exaggerated by locals,

“That is actually happening all over Carew Park. “There are no gangs hanging around the shop by night; if there were, I’m sure I would have been contacted by the guards”.

She said she has never discussed the property with City Council and claims: “Nobody has ever approached me about acquiring the property and I have never been offered any money from the council for it”.

She also commented on the litter reported at the shop. “There is rubbish at the rear of the property, but it has been dumped there by residents”.

The shop has also been painted in the past to cover graffiti, she added.

“The graffiti is done by the local kids in the estate and we have painted it before, and if we paint it again, the same thing will happen.”

She was angry with the description of the property as derelict and said, “It has never been listed as derelict, it is listed a vacant shop.”