Halloween mayhem in Athboy as house is burned out

A night of Halloween mayhem in Athboy saw a derelict building destroyed by fire and a group of local people celebrating the area's traditional Smahain festival come under attack from fireworks. Gardai are investigating the spate of disturbing incidents that culminated in a fire gutting a house on Lower Bridge Street in the town. Extra gardai will be in the town over the next week as patrol are stepped up to prevent any further escalation in incidents which occurred over the weekend. Things started badly on Monday when a group of people gathered at the Fair Green in the town at around 7pm, celebrating Halloween by holding the annual torchlit procession to the Hill of Ward, where the festival of Samhain was first celebrated. However, a group of youths threw bangers and fireworks at the assembled group. One member of the group said what they witnessed was "just berzerk". He said: "There were kids in cars driving around town firing fireworks at people, it was unbelievable. While we were assembling, they were on the side of the road letting rockets go, actually aiming and letting rockets go at people. It was truly unbelievable. "They also put fireworks into the post box belonging to the post office and destroyed the mail inside." He said the house which was burned down "must be a century old and there must have been a world of history in there, it's such a shame. But it's just crazy the behaviour of these lads". Gardaí and the fire service were called to the scene at around 8pm as the fire took hold of the premises at Lower Bridge Street. It is thought that fireworks were used to start the fire after a front window was smashed. The house was gutted as a result of the blaze, although the building is understood to have been derelict for a number of years. A group of four youths were spotted in the area on the night riding around the town in a car and throwing fireworks and bangers out of the windows. Two fire units, one from Navan and one from Trim, were dispatched to the blaze at around 8pm. Smoke from the fire damaged an adjoining two-storey property, which is also derelict. In front of the crowd from the torchlit march, which numbered around 200 people, fire officers contained the blaze withing 35 minutes while gardaí created a cordon for the safety of the onlookers. Around two-and-a-half hours later, the flames were out and the premises was made safe. Gardaí are investigating the incident and can be contacted on (046) 928 80820. This was the second of two fires in the town over the weekend. On Saturday night/Sunday morning, at around 3.30am, a Mercedes hatchback was also burned out at Windy Arbour, Athboy. Gardaí are investigating the incident but cannot confirm that it was related to an alleged stabbing in the area earlier that night because no complaint has been filed with gardaí. The Meath Chronicle understands that, earlier that night, a young man had been involved in an incident where there was an alleged stabbing when two groups became involved in an altercation. Kells Superintendent Jim McGowan said that extra gardaí will be in Athboy in the next few days and up to the weekend to prevent any possible escalation after a "large public order incident" in the town. "We believe that there was a stabbing incident between non-nationals living in the town and locals but we've no complaint and nobody has come forward, but it is under investigation," he said. "The car might have been burned out in retaliation for that incident but we will have an extra presence in the town, which has grown in recent years, to keep an eye on things," added Supt McGowan. He admitted the loss of a sergeant to Mullingar recently meant gardai in Athboy had been stretched but added: "In the meantime, the Athboy gardaí can fall back on Kells and, once we get our rosters aligned, we will have closer to a 24-hour operation in the town, even though the station might not be open."