Concerns voiced after hundreds of young people congregated at Mount Oval on Halloween night 

CONCERNS have been raised after about 200 to 300 young people reportedly congregated at Mount Oval on Halloween night, with gardaí arresting four youths.

It is understood the young people started to gather from 6pm on Tuesday and stayed for several hours, with the area only clearing at around 10pm that night.

Residents reported that some of the youths were drinking, smoking, setting off fireworks, getting sick, breaking glass, and throwing items in the area.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the gardaí told The Echo: “Gardaí attended a mass gathering that occurred on Mount Oval in the Rochestown area of Co Cork at approximately 9:30pm last night, Tuesday, October 31, 2023.”

Gardaí confirmed that nobody was hurt, saying: “No injuries were reported in the course of this incident”, but said that arrests were made.

“Four youths were arrested under the provisions of the Public Order Act 1994”, the spokesperson said, adding: “referrals to the youth diversion bureau are pending.”

Previous gatherings 

It’s not the first time Mount Oval has seen a large gathering of young people — in 2020, during the pandemic, groups of teenagers gathered in the area and a number of public brawls took place.

Local representatives said that while the area has been quiet of late, it is important that the situation doesn’t escalate.

Labour Party candidate for the South East Ward Peter Horgan told The Echo: “I was talking to residents recently enough and it has been quite quiet, but traditionally it has been a focal area for teenagers, a hotspot of antisocial behaviour.

“Ultimately I would have thought the rain would have negated antisocial behaviour [on Tuesday] but obviously not.

“It’s important that in an estate in particular people don’t have crowds gathering no matter what age they are.”

Rob Hartigan, a local resident, told The Echo there had been a similar Halloween gathering last year but on a much smaller scale, saying: “There were 50 to 60 people in 2022 and I was blown away by those numbers at the time.

“This year there was — no exaggeration — between 200 to 300 teenagers, 14- and 15-year-olds.”

Mr Hartigan said he had taken his children out trick-or-treating at around 6pm, and could see a few people beginning to gather as early as 6.30pm and, by an hour later, there were hundreds of people there.

He explained that the main issue was the sheer loudness and apparent state of intoxication several of the people were in.

Behaviour condemned 

Fianna Fáil councillor Mary Rose Desmond condemned the teenagers’ behaviour, and praised the gardaí for getting the situation under control and making the arrests.

She said sending a serious message was the only way to ensure there wouldn’t be a repeat of Halloween night.

She told The Echo that at a recent public meeting of the Douglas Policing Forum, which she chairs, “there had been a general commentary that we haven’t had high instances of anti-social behaviour in recent years.”

Calling what happened on Halloween night “unacceptable”, she said: “We don’t want to see this escalate, we can’t be complacent with the fact that we’ve had a good run.”

Mr Horgan, meanwhile, explained that while Mount Oval had previously been promised its own community policing forum, this had never materialised.

“There is an element of parental responsibility at play too but, ultimately, we do need to see the establishment of that policing forum for this area that was promised back in 2019/2020.

“It never materialised. But rather than be reactive, we need to be proactive to the needs of the residents in the area on policing matters — I will be writing to senior gardaí on this.”