Gardai declared the policing of the Slane rock concert a success and said for the second year in succession the patrolling of the River Boyne prevented any tragedies.
Garda Chief Supt Michael Finnegan said gardai, Drogheda river rescue and civil defence policed the river and although a number of people did try to approach the arena from the far side of the river, they were prevented from reaching it. "From a Garda perspective, we are delighted with the overall situation, the crowd was relatively young with a lot under 18 years. They were very well-behaved and a credit to themselves," the chief superintendent added.
There was total gridlock on all roads out of the village from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. yesterday as 80,000 fans started the journey home. The Garda aerial support unit helicopter was used to quickly identify particularly troublesome areas.
Gardai made 19 arrests; the same number were arrested at last year's Verve concert. Of the 19, five were for alleged possession of drugs and two for alleged supply. Of those two, one was a Dublin man who was working as one of the security personnel for the day.
Nine of the arrests were for public order offences, which included being drunk and disorderly. One man who had travelled from England and was trying to sell 125 tickets to the concert was arrested under the Casual Trading Act. He appeared at a special sitting of Slane District Court where he pleaded guilty and was fined £300 and the tickets confiscated.
Gardai seized 80 tickets from four other people who are also expected to be charged with trying to sell them at inflated prices. At least one person is believed to have paid up to £400 for a ticket. Gardai also received two reports of alleged rape.
The North Eastern Health Board ran a field hospital. "We have treated people who have been overdoing it, they have had too much alcohol, some have fractured ankles, there have been asthma attacks but no evidence of drug abuse," said Dr Rory Page, accident and emergency consultant, on Saturday afternoon. Two people were treated for allergic shock after being stung by wasps.
The Environmental Health Officer confirmed that officials made 12 seizures from mobile fast-food outlets for allegedly failing to have the correct freezer facilities.
"We take diseased food from vendors. The foods have to be stored at the correct temperatures and if the facilities are not there to do this, we will seize the food and the vendors are out of business," said Mr Al Donnelly, the principal environmental health officer with the NEHB, who added that in 17 years of concerts, there has never been a reported case of food-poisoning.