This article is from page 6 of the 2006-07-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
EIGHT people were arrested after a “near-riot” broke out in Lahinch on Saturday night, as rocks and bottles were thrown, windows on houses smashed and cars vandalised.
Householders were left in fear during the incident, which began early in the night and culminated at 3am, as revellers poured out of nightclubs.
Gardaí were forced to call reinforcements from Miltown Malbay, as all hell broke loose.
Gardaí say that the panic arose initially when a group attending a birthday party in a holiday home, refused to turn down the music, when ordered to do so by gardaí at 10pm, on foot of complaints from neighbours.
“Gardaí called to the house a number of times, but they did not turn down the music. A group of up to 30 people spilled out on to the street and started obstructing traffic. There was a lot of anger and things got really dirty,” said a Garda source.
The situation became more tense after the nightclubs closed, as groups of youngsters hassled doormen. Bottles were smashed on the street and rocks thrown through windows, while youths taunted each other and yelled obscenities at passers-by.
“People started to joined in. There were plenty of rows going on at the same time. People were frightened. Thankfully the situation was eventually contained. It could have turned into a real battlefield,” said one local.
Locals say the level of noise emanating from house parties is an ongoing problem and is leaving elderly people “intimidated and frightened.”
Two years ago, locals voiced concerns about public disorder in the town and objected to what they said was the high number of nightclub licences being granted.
The local community council says if there is a reoccurrence of incidents such as that on Saturday night, locals will go to court to close nightclubs.
“There are major concerns here with the way our town is going. It is unreal that a near-riot situation broke out at the weekend,” said community council chairman Donogh O’Loghlin.
He said while locals were not blaming disco owners, they must be more selective about who was admitted.
“We are one of the few existing disco towns in Clare. We are not on for closing down discos, but we want people to be more responsible. We are asking the publicans and people who rent houses to be more responsible,” he added.
North Clare Garda Superintendent Eamon Dolan told The Clare People that he was happy that sufficient gardaí were available in the area, at the weekend.