The emergency services were kept extremely busy last night attending to bonfires and other Halloween-related incidents around the country. However, there were no reports of major incidents by late yesterday evening, although there were a number of arrests, mainly for public order offences.
In Dublin, a spokesman for the fire brigade said it was receiving up to 90 calls an hour relating to fires around the city. Some 30 fire appliances were active from early evening throughout the city, but often opted to let fires burn themselves out if there was no danger to property or from toxic gases.
A spokesman for the emergency helpline of the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it had received a small number of calls yesterday evening, only one of which was specifically related to Halloween activities.
However, local animal rescue services reported many requests for sedatives for their pets from concerned animal owners.
A spokesman for the Garda press office said officers had responded to a large number of incidents yesterday evening. But the majority of arrests were said to be for relatively minor public order offences, frequently involving youths.While gardaí were generally very busy, the level of activity was broadly "on a par" with previous years, the spokesman added.
It is understood that one concern among emergency services was that youths in some areas might steal cars to drive them into bonfires, as has happened in previous years.
Dublin City Council hosted a number of Halloween events in the city last night, in areas such as Ballymun, Finglas and Smithfield. At one of these, at least 300 local children took part in the Ballymun Other World Festival on Ballymun Road, which was followed by a fireworks display at Ballymun Town Centre.
Brian Mongey, one of the organisers, said Halloween was "bigger than Christmas" for many children of Ballymun.
Meanwhile, undercover gardaí in Cork travelled on bus routes covering the city in an attempt to counteract vandalism of Bus Éireann vehicles, which in previous years were the targets of missiles being thrown by youths.
It is believed that a particular focus for Garda efforts were routes to the Farranree and Knocknaheeny areas. Bus services in Cork have been severely affected by stone-throwing and other anti-social attacks in recent years, with drivers refusing to enter certain areas due to the attacks.
Gardaí in the area also doubled their patrols. Under legislation introduced last year, people who import and trade in illegal fireworks can face up to six months in jail and up to €10,000 in fines.