Clampdown on under-age bonfire ‘bushing'

By TOM GILMORE AS bonfires blaze around Galway and elsewhere this week, Gardai are clamping down on under-age drinking at such events and they are also keeping a close watch on teenagers, some as young as 14 or 15, bringing drink into alcohol free discos and onto buses going to such venues. But while there is the possibility that under-age teens will get their older friends to purchase alcohol for them, usually in off-licences, a Tuam Garda Sergeant is also warning parents to watch their drinks cabinet at home. He says spirits such as whisky, gin or vodka may be rifled from bottles at home by their teenagers.[private] 'We regularly carry out spot checks on teenagers boarding buses out of Tuam for alcohol-free discos in Mayo and elsewhere around Galway and we have confiscated soft drinks laced with alcohol in the past. 'While it is harder now for teenagers to get fake ID cards as the new ones are on plastic, similar to credit cards and very hard to reproduce, I would say to parents to keep a close eye on spirits being stored at home. Some youngsters may be stealing from those bottles and mixing the alcohol with soft drinks before going to the discos,' says Sergeant Connor. He added that while Tuam Gardai had not experienced any problems regarding under-age drinking at bonfires in the past, it has been a problem in other areas and they will be keeping a close watch on this and are asking parents to do likewise. Parents must watch 'Parents or guardians should supervise events such as bonfires and apart from watching out for any under-age drinking they also need to keep an eye out for illegal fireworks, which can also cause serious injuries,' said Sergeant Connor. Fears have also been expressed by parents that young people may be getting their older friends to buy drink in off-licences in the lead-up to the mid-term break and the youngsters may be stashing their supplies in derelict houses or in houses in ghost estates in Tuam and elsewhere. They then collect the alcohol later and mix it with soft drinks before travelling out of town to alcohol-free discos in other parts of Galway, Athlone and Mayo. But both Sgt Connor in Tuam and Chief Superintendent Tom Curley in Castlebar says the Gardai in the two districts are clamping down on under-age teenagers bringing alcohol on buses to such discos. 'While the incidents are isolated I would say that we have nine or ten cases of alcohol being taken from young people on buses in the last six months or so. 'This searching of people on buses going to discos is something that was also carried out at times when I was in Athlone. But of course it is all about partnership with parents and we would ask them to monitor their children's movements as best they can,' said the Chief Superintendent. The Gardai have got young people in the past to go into off licences and pubs to see if they could purchase drink without a valid ID but that would usually be at venues where allegations had been made about them selling drink to people under the legal age. He said some of the buses coming to venues in Mayo were from places such as Tuam and both the Chief Supt and Sgt Connor said they could come under spot checks by the Gardai. 'We also carefully monitored young people and checked them for alcohol consumption before they left Tuam for those discos during the Junior Certificate celebrations earlier this autumn. And now, during the Halloween break, we will continue to be extra vigilant. 'As far as we are aware there are no cases of publicans in Tuam selling alcohol to under-age people, but we continue to monitor the situation closely,' he concluded. The legal position is that young people cannot be served alcohol if they are under the age of 18. They are permitted to be in a public house only when in the company of a parent or guardian and only up to 9 pm.[/private]