Madam, Thank you for the delightful article “One day, one world, many cultures” (Summer Living, July 26th). However, I feel it should have been entitled “One day, one festival, too much security”. This year I witnessed a security presence at the festival that could have been expecting a Greek riot rather than children armed with face paint, adults with smiles.
Within 30 minutes, three levels of security were circling the event to control such behaviour, the rubbish collectors and security staff warned individuals and confiscated beverages while gardaí issued fines. The jovial crowd was sunbathing en masse on the grass in front of the main stage.
I did not see a single individual this year or last year causing a disturbance, or being disrespectful except perhaps the people “securing” the crowd. Food stalls were shut down by 7.30pm and there was no means of purchasing beer except from bars that I could see. Surely this is excessive when most bye-laws allow gardai relax the provisions for special events. Could local businesses have had a role to play in this? – Yours, etc,