Fire service calls down on 2008

A Dublin Fire Brigade crew was attacked while dealing with a fire in Finglas in north Dublin last night but the number of call-outs across the city was significantly down on last year.

A Garda spokesman said the crew was called to the scene of a burning car at Fairlawn Road at about 10.40pm when it was confronted by a gang of at least 40 people.

The group threw stones and other missiles at the fire engine, breaking its windscreen.

There were no injuries reported and no arrests made.

Overall, the Garda spokesman said there were just a few scattered public order incidents and this year’s Halloween festivities showed no repeat of the widespread violence of previous years. “It really doesn’t seem to have been much beyond a normal Saturday night,” he said.

A Dublin Fire Brigade spokesman said it was "busy", but not on the same scale as previous years. "The rain might have had a lot to do with it," he said.

The service was called out to 300 incidents last night compared with 800 in 2008 while and the city’s ambulance service received some 250 calls compared with twice that number last year

Last Halloween, several gardaí and firefighters were attacked while attending incidents at illegal bonfires in Dublin, Tipperary and Cork, while dozens of cars were set alight in Limerick. The estimated cost of cleaning up the damage caused by bonfires in Dublin alone was €1 million.

Three Dublin fire crews were attacked with stones earlier in the week while tackling separate fires in Ballymun and Ballyfermot.