Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

What occurred, particularly on Saturday night, is of major concern. Many years ago, I worked as a security guard at concerts but never saw intoxication at the level I saw in Chapelizod on Thursday and Friday nights. There were people who were in no fit state to walk the streets heading to the concert. How many of them were turned away? Was there a drink tank where people could have recovered instead of going to the concert to have more drink and drugs? Despite some searches by stewards, drink was brought into the concert, and this was consumed on top of the drinks sold at the concert.

There was an inadequate Garda presence and inadequate stewarding in the residential areas that back onto the Phoenix Park. I include Castleknock and Chapelizod in my constituency. Some of the residents felt under siege given the amount of people attending the concerts. In some cases in the past, there were significant traffic problems, but it was the number of people that constituted the problem on this occasion. Some of the gates into the park, which were locked to try to encourage attendees to go a different way, were broken down. There was much dumping in Chapelizod after the concerts. Bottles and clothes of all sorts were dumped in people's gardens. Concert-goers urinated in people's gardens and on their doors.

There ought to be a meeting urgently with the OPW and concert promoters. There is provision for several more concerts. If they are to proceed and the same scenes are repeated, we and the relevant authorities will have failed. I urge the Minister to ensure this meeting will happen quickly and that there will be sufficient stewarding, not only at the concerts but on the way thereto, be it by the Garda or private security companies organised by the promoters. Residents should not suffer the consequences of concerts run for profit. People should be allowed to come and go as they please in the residential areas. The other users of the park should also enjoy this freedom. The park was out of bounds for non-concertgoers in the run-up to and during the various concerts.

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