Fireworks over New Year’s Eve celebrations in Borris
Fireworks over the Borris viaduct brought in the New Year Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
THERE were heated exchanges at the recent meeting of Muinebheag Municipal District as the future of New Year’s Eve celebrations in Borris came up for discussion.
Kieran Comerford, head of economic development and enterprise with the Local Enterprise Office, outlined the council’s plans for this year’s festivities for the county. These plans did not include fireworks to ring in the New Year in Borris, much to the annoyance of local councillor Willie Quinn, who described it as “crazy” that money isn’t being allocated to run an event. Cllr Quinn said that events in previous years had brought thousands of people to the area.
“It’s a major loss to the businesses. If you bring three or four-thousand people into a town on New Year’s Eve, it’s probably the best night of the year to do it. It’s a family-run event. We never had any trouble and there’s a lot of people in Borris who are going to be disappointed. It’s a slap in the face,” he said.
Mr Comerford responded by stressing the importance of an event management plan in order to guide public safety, adding that previous events in Borris had operated without such a plan.
“This event has run without that for seven years. I did not want to say that in public, but you’ve put me in a position to say that you ran an event without a safety management plan for a number of years.
"As a council, we cannot give someone permission to run an event that involves licensed explosives without an event management plan. It is as simple as that.”
Mr Comerford said his office had engaged with the community, offering assistance, but said “at the end of the day, we are not going to write a blank cheque for any community to run an event on council property”.
He outlined the resources needed for the Carlow town fireworks, saying that it takes 20 staff, a large number of gardaí and the co-operation of the Civil Defence to make it happen. He said it was “a bit much” to ask staff who work all year round to work on New Year’s Eve, and he also questioned the suggestion that up to 4,000 people spend the last night of the year in Borris.
Mr Comerford said he was happy to revisit the situation next year. “You haven’t produced a plan and therefore we cannot give permission,” he said, telling cllr Quinn that he would be the first to criticise if something were to happen to someone “stopped on the side of the road, standing out on the road in the dark watching fireworks”.
He stressed that the council was willing to work with groups and told cllr Quinn: “Next year, when you are doing your municipal plan, if this MD wants to prioritise Borris over Bagenalstown and have a big event in Borris, we’re happy to have that conversation.”
Cllr Andy Gladney supported his colleague, asking: “Who carries the can for public liability during the Borris Fair? How can we afford €20,000 on a clean-up after it, but we can’t cover insurance for Christmas lights in Borris?”
Kieran Comerford said the two were completely different things, telling cllr Gladney: “This is not about insurance. It’s about safety. It’s about an event management plan. Insurance is part of that, but it’s not the only part of it”.
An irate cllr Gladney wrapped up his views by saying: “I think it’s a load of bullshit myself.”
