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THE LORD MAYOR of Dublin, James Geoghegan, has said it was a miracle no one was injured after teenagers set off fireworks at Grand Canal Square earlier this week.
Geoghegan decried the behaviour as “mindless and dangerous” and said anti-social behaviour around the Grand Canal area will be the number one item on the agenda of the next South East Area Joint Policing Committee.
A video posted on TikTok earlier this week by a resident in the Grand Canal Square area shows a group of what appears to be five teenage boys with their faces covered setting off fireworks in the area in front of the water outside the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
Posted by the account ‘thatguybillosh’, the video shows the fireworks being directed towards the water as dozens of passersby are also seen in the vicinity.
The man filming makes the point that a car alarm can be heard going off and that the behaviour is happening in the middle of the day.
“Episode 45 of the random shit that goes on at Grand Canal Dock,” the poster said, adding that the fireworks could hit a passerby.
“There’s quite literally little kids going to Bord Gáis to see Wicked and these lads are letting off screamers and fireworks. It’s daylight,” the man is heard saying.
One staff member of the nearby Marker Hotel told The Journal that while they did not witness the fireworks, similar anti-social behaviour is a common occurrence in the area.
They added however that it is the same “across Dublin”.
Commenting on the behaviour, Lord Mayor Geoghegan said there has regrettably been an increase in anti-social behaviour in the Grand Canal area during the summer months.
“Lighting fireworks in the direction of windows is mindless and dangerous. It’s a miracle nobody was seriously injured.
“One of the measures I announced as Lord Mayor in the last council meeting before the break is the re-establishment of the local joint policing committees,” Geoghegan said.
He added that a new system of local engagement with gardaí is being set up through safety partnerships, but said this law hasn’t yet been commenced.
“It’s really important we don’t have any gaps between the ending of the old system and the beginning of the new one and the Garda Commissioner committed to me his support of this initiative.
“It’s so important that locals and their representatives have a way of direct any ongoing communication in relation to policing matters,” Geoghegan said.
Geoghegan, a Fine Gael councillor who was elected Lord Mayor in June, added that while anti-social behaviour at the Grand Canal will be the number one item on the agenda at the next South East Area Joint Policy Committee, he would be happy to facilitate a meeting with locals and gardaí in the meantime.
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