Local TD Emer Higgins welcomed the announcement that the guards have started their annual crack down on illegal bonfires and fireworks one month earlier for 2020.
She said: “I am delighted that the Gardai have already started their annual crackdown on fireworks and bonfires, one month earlier than usual. “They have already seized a significant number of fireworks since early August. “They are now launching ‘Operation Tombola’ to further tackle this scourge. Deputy Higgins continued: “A firework display is beautiful when under safe supervision by professionals, not in gardens with children just feet from these highly flammable products. “There is a massive increase in children presenting to hospital, specifically with severe burns each Halloween. “The consequences of using these products and starting these bonfires in large open spaces are beyond hazardous. “A simple spark from a bonfire to an item of clothing can go alight in a matter of seconds causing lifelong injuries and in a lot of cases literally blow up in people’s faces
She concluded: “Fireworks are set off in many areas weeks before Halloween itself, literally terrorising neighbourhoods. These mindless actions absolutely petrify vulnerable people such as the elderly and people with special needs; not to mention the torment they cause to animals as they endure weeks of this as local youths just get a simple thrill”
“Already we’ve heard reports of a teenager who suffered significant injuries to his fingers when a fireworks blew up in his hand in Palmerstown.”
