Business resumed yesterday at the amusement park on the promenade in Tramore, Co Waterford, where a 16-year-old was killed on Sunday when a bungee-style ride on which he was working went horribly wrong.
Mr John Flavin, who moved to the seaside town with his family 18 months ago, had been working during his summer holidays as an attendant on the "Ejection Seat" ride.The attraction, costing €30 per ride, involves two people being catapulted into the air, spinning several times and then plummeting back to the ground where the cage in which they travel is grabbed by a number of attendants.
However, at 3.40 p.m. on Sunday, it appears that the teenager and his colleagues struggled to control the cage and he was struck violently by it, causing what were to prove fatal injuries when he died later at Waterford Regional Hospital.
Health and Safety Authority and Garda investigators examined the scene of the tragedy yesterday.
Mr Patrick Roche, a Waterford teenager who said he had previously worked on the "Ejection Seat, said: "There would usually be three or four of us working on this ride. I can't understand how it happened. It's terrible to think that we worked together and now John is gone. We were getting €5 an hour for this work. It's terrible, just terrible."
Investigators are likely to be assisted in their work, as each ride on the attraction was recorded on video-tape. Cassettes from Sunday afternoon are believed to be in the possession of gardaí.
The director of the amusement park, local Fianna Fáil activist Mr Frank King, was assigned by the the owner of the ride, Mr James Booth from Wales, to handle media queries yesterday.
Having expressed his sympathy to the Flavin family, Mr King said it was Mr Booth's seventh season operating in the park, though the "Ejection Seat" had only been there for three years.
"He's a member of the Showman's Guild in Britain and has international experience," Mr King said of Mr Booth.
"This ride complied with health and safety regulations in the UK and was examined regularly to ensure it kept its certificate each year. We are all co-operating with the Health and Safety Authority and the gardaí as they investigate this awful accident.
"I have just had an hour-long meeting with the HSA and they seem to be satisfied with the paperwork and the maintenance record for this machine. The park here has been operating for over 30 years and this is the first fatal accident."
While the "Ejection Seat" will stay closed at least until after Mr Flavin's funeral later this week, the remainder of the rides in the amusement park were operating as normal yesterday - something that angered local town councillor Mr Eddie Walsh.
"There should have been a blanket closure of the whole park on Sunday evening and today as a mark of respect. People are blessing themselves as they pass where the accident happened but all they can hear in the background is the blaring music from the other rides," he said.
The youngest of seven children, John Flavin is survived by his parents John and Francis. The young man's father was involved in a serious car accident some years ago.
The parish priest of Tramore, Mgr Michael Olden, called to the Flavin family home on Cliff Road in the town yesterday.
"Naturally I came out of there very upset. He was the baby of the family. They are really shocked by it all. They aren't living in Tramore all that long and they are obviously still very distressed and taking time to come to terms with the whole tragic event."
Late yesterday afternoon, bunches of flowers marked the spot where John lost his life.