HALLOWEEN REVELLERS LEAVE A TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION
MATTRESSES, FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD WASTE BURNED ON BONFIRES AROUND ENNISCORTHY
THE smouldering remains of mattresses, furniture, tyres, bicycles and all manner of household rubbish were visible on blackened green areas of estates across Enniscorthy on Thursday morning. Council workers were quick to mobilise and picked their way through the debris once again in an attempt to clean up after the annual Halloween bonfires.
The clean-up after Halloween last year was estimated to have cost the council somewhere in the region of €7,000 and as the sun rose on estates across the town on Thursday morning, it became clear it could be a costly process once again.
At Sean Browne court, the still smouldering remains contained furniture, mattresses and even a scorched storage heater. At Slí na Sláine, there were three or four different black piles on the green with household furniture, mattresses and cans and bottles again forming the majority of the charred remains.
Over at Cluain Dara, the burnt rubbish and furniture formed an awful backdrop for the playground there and council workers set about cleaning up on what would be a busy morning for them. Finally at Rectory Field, a huge pile was left after household waste, buggies, a bicycle, mattresses and even a fridge was tossed into the flames the night before.
Local councillor John O’Rourke said that although a clean-up would be required, the damaged caused by Halloween festivities was not as bad as last year.
‘I think the council workers were very proactive in taking stuff away that had been left out to be burned before Halloween night,’ he said. ‘ The fire service were also quick on hand and if anything looked like it was getting out of control, they were there straight away. I think people are becoming more proactive in reporting these things as well. While there will be a cost in cleaning up again this year, I don’t think it’ll be as bad as it was last year. I think maybe the shower of rain on Halloween night may have helped too.’
While dumping on bonfires and the damage caused as a result are a traditional source of annoyance around Halloween, Cllr O’Rourke said that this time around, the majority of calls he had received from disgruntled locals was in relation to fireworks being set off in the doorways of businesses in the town centre and eggs being thrown at buildings.
A spokesman for Enniscorthy Fire Service said that they had a total of five call-outs over the course of Halloween night and, for the most part, those present at the scene were compliant. That was not said to be the case in Bunclody, however, where members of the Fire Service were supposedly pelted with stones and other objects as they attempted to quench a total of three large bonfires. A garda spokesman, however, said that things had been relatively quiet for a Halloween night with nothing major to report. While things seemed slightly quieter than last year, there’s no doubt that the tax-payer will once again foot the bill for the clean-up.