Busy Halloween night for Meath Fire Service

Meath County Council Fire and Rescue Service reported a busy Halloween night with firefighters responding to 44 Halloween related incidents on Saturday evening and into Sunday morning.

Most of these incidents involved bonfires, bin fires, skip fires and other small outdoor fires, according to a spokesperson for Meath County Council.

In addition to Halloween-related incidents, fire crews also responded to two domestic fires and one ambulance assist call, highlighting the continued demand on emergency services throughout the night.

The busiest Meath station was Ashbourne where crews responded to 14 calls, followed closely by Navan on 13. Dunshaughlin attended 10 Halloween-related incidents while Trim attended five and Kells and Nobber attended one each.

An incident in Dunboyne where a piece of equipment in the junior section of the playground was set alight and damaged has prompted outrage locally.

The universal piece with a tunnel and extra wide slide that was damaged, had been designed with children with disabilities in mind.

Chair of Dunboyne Playspace Forum and local councillor Maria Murphy said it was "soul destroying" to see the pictures of the fire up on social media on Saturday night.

Over €450,000 was raised to fund a major upgrade of the playground which opened three years ago.

However, she did say that the majority of young people are very respectful of the playground and this was the first incident of blatant abusive or vandalism. The incident is being investigated by Gardai.

The playground remains open and was packed with children enjoying the good weather the next day.

Cllr Murphy said the Halloween antics this year had started about two to three weeks ago and that a Big Belly bin at the playground end of the park had been set alight .

The previous week one had been set alight at the bus stop beside Lidl and there was a similar incident where a bin was set on fire at Dunboyne Train Station.

A small number of youths estimated to be around 12 years of were seen at the bins just before the fires and children as young as 12 are also believed to be responsible for the fire in the playground.

On Halloween night itself, emergency services also responded to a bonfire at Kilbreena estate.

Cllr Murphy said: "I have lived in Dunboyne since 1998, and I have never seen as many blue lights on a Halloween night as there was this year."