South Dublin residents find their SUVs targeted by ‘Tyre Extinguisher’ climate action group

The same note was left on each targeted SUV as the group claims that car companies “try to convince us we need massive cars”. It says that SUVs and 4x4 vehicles are a “disaster for our climate”.

“Attention - your gas guzzler kills. We have deflated one or more of your tyres. You’ll be angry, but don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s your car,” the note read.

“We did this because driving around urban areas in your massive vehicle has huge consequences for others.”

A resident of Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh, whose Range Rover had two tyres deflated, said everyone was concerned about climate change but this was not the way to go about raising awareness.

“I had things planned this morning that I could not do. I had to get a mini compressor. The saga started at 9am when I came out. It’s ridiculous. I lost three or four hours of my morning,” she said

“We have had times in the not too distant past when one of our kids was unwell and we would have gone to Vincents in the middle of the night.

“Try and persuade people by all means – but use reasoned arguments. When the guards came this morning to take details they had a lot of names on that list, it looked like around fifteen cars were affected, that is my educated guess.”

She said she was not overly surprised, because when she heard about other areas getting targeted she felt Raneladh would be next.

“I heard it on the radio last week and thought 'uh-oh they will come for us next’. We are seen as a well heeled neighbourhood, whatever that means, we bought our houses here 36 years ago and we worked hard for that, most people have worked hard for what they have,” she said.

Chris Ryan, who runs Tyre Source, a garage located just off the square on Dartmouth Terrace said he had fixed up two cars that morning and also one from another road in Dublin 4 that had been targeted.

“Two of the residents in Dartmouth Square came in and I also had a car from Shrewsbury Road,” he said.

“Some of the tyres are still flat and many of the bigger cars, like the Mercedes, would have their own compressor so their owners sorted them but it’s a lot of hassle, it takes a few hours, even if it happened to me I would be unsure what to do and I am in the game,” he said.

“It’s just not on. People are annoyed, the guards can’t really do anything. It’s got to the stage where people with big cars are half expecting it.”

Another Dartmouth square resident, who is an avid cyclist, says he is opposed to SUVs in built up areas, but also that deflating tyres will not make a difference.

“I cycle 25 km to work and back every day, I don’t own a car, but this boggles the mind, it will not make a difference,” he said.

“It’s a bit like the way they are destroying art in museums: the environmental movement has become about getting attention, but they are not changing anything and we all need to work together on this.”

A similar incident occurred in the Churchtown area just over a week ago but in this instance tyres were described has having been ‘slashed’.

Fine Gael TD for Dublin-Rathdown Neale Richmond said he received calls from residents in the Churchtown area who claimed their tyres were “slashed”.

“It’s now with the local Gardaí. This thuggery is unacceptable, I’m hopeful the investigation can put a stop to this carry on but be vigilant,” he wrote in a post online.

The Irish Independent has contacted The Tyre Extinguishers for comment.