Gardai move crowd of teens from estate
THE preventative measures put in place before Halloween night have been credited for the non-escalation of a situation in Kilnamanagh – when more than 250 young people arrived in the estate for a bonfire.
In the days running up to Halloween, South Dublin County Council and Tallaght gardai worked with communities in removing stockpiled bonfire material.
South Dublin County Council and Tallaght gardai worked with communities in removing stockpiled bonfire material
In the Kilnamanagh and Bancroft areas alone, around 800 pallets stashed offside for Halloween were removed before October 31 – along with other materials and rubbish.
However, word that the bonfire in Kilnamanagh was not going ahead didn’t filter out, with more than 250 young people arriving for the blaze on Halloween night.
Many of the young people travelled into the area by Luas, and congregated at the bottom of the estate, beside the soccer pitches, where the bonfire was scheduled to be.
Garda units from Tallaght arrived on the scene quickly and managed to move the crowd out of the estate in the direction of the Kingswood Luas stop around 9.30pm.
There were reports of a fight and a glass bottle being thrown at a Garda car.
However, local officers managed the situation effectively and had the area under control by the time the public order unit arrived.
Speaking with The Echo, Independent councillor Mick Duff said: “These kids arrived in Kilnamanagh for the fire but there was no fire when they got there.
“There was no focal point for them without the fire, which resulted in no build-up of anti-social behaviour”.
“I definitely think this is down to preventative work.
“A lot of material was removed from the area prior to Halloween.”
He added: “This is something that is going to challenge communities, we need to look at what alternatives there are for Halloween.
“We need to provide young people with some sort of entertainment that is not considered anti-social.
“People want some sort of a gathering, a social event at Halloween and if we could get that going in some areas that would be a start.”
