The use of fireworks remains widespread over the Halloween period despite the Garda’s seizure of €225,000 worth of pyrotechnics over the last 10 years.
Despite Garda efforts, fireworks are easily procured through various channels – social media accounts offering fireworks delivery services across Dublin are rife, while some pyrotechnics are readily available for legal purchase – with a licence – in Northern Ireland.
Over the past decade, gardaí have seized over 1,200 explosives – worth about €225,000 – as part of Operation Tombola, which focuses on “preventing and detecting the sale of fireworks and associated public order and antisocial behaviour issues during the Halloween period”.
John Guilfoyle, assistant chief fire officer with Dublin Fire Brigade, said that they encourage people to avoid fireworks: “Don’t buy them, don’t use them, don’t give them to anyone else to be used.”
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He noted that fireworks, given they are illegal in this jurisdiction, are effectively unregulated. “They are illegal in this country, and what that means, it was they’re not manufactured to any particular standard or anything like that,” he said.
“You can’t be sure of the device you’re using – it is going to prematurely explode, explode later, not explode when you think, and so forth. And that in itself, leads to really terrible injuries that can be avoided,” he said.
In a statement, Supt Ann-Marie Twomey said that gardaí target illegal firework vendors to “prevent antisocial behaviour” and “dangerous incidents including possible injury”.
“Those who attempt to profit from the sale of illegal fireworks by putting them into the hands of those that are not licensed to safely use them are proactively targeted by Gardaí nationwide,” she said.
Halloween is traditionally the busiest night on the calendar for fire services across the country but call-outs are falling in recent years, according to Mr Guilfoyle.
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