A handful of trouble

Hallowe'en may mean fun, fireworks, games and ghouls for most of us, but for some unfortunates - usually children - it can result in incredible pain, suffering and even the loss of sight or limb. Every year a number of children are seriously injured by fireworks in the run-up to Hallowe'en; some of them are maimed for life.

"We get up to 20 children presenting with hand injuries every Hallowe'en," confirms Dr Samir Deiratany, casualty registrar at Temple Street Children's Hospital. The injuries are mostly caused by bangers exploding in the hand.

Most commonly, children suffer burns on the tips of the index and middle fingers, thumbs and palms. Sometimes children lose a finger or part of a finger. Even relatively minor injuries are incredibly painful, Dr Samir says, since all layers of the skin can be affected by the burns. Eye injuries are another feature of Hallowe'en. According to medical eye specialist Dr Kevin Tempany, there are up to 16 firework-related eye injuries every year in Ireland; half of these are admitted to specialist in-patient care.

"Every year," he says, "a child loses a large percentage of his or her vision in one eye."

Already this year a six-year-old boy from Drogheda, Co Louth, has suffered serious eye injury when a banger exploded in his face. A study conducted by Tempany and Prof Louis Collum of the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, shows that the majority of children injured by fireworks are aged between 10 and 13 years. Only one in every nine children injured is a girl; almost all injuries occur in unsupervised situations. "Most of the injuries occur at night on the streets and they are all from illegal fireworks," he notes.

It is possible to obtain a special licence from the Department of Justice to import fireworks for a fireworks display, but otherwise the possession of fireworks is illegal in this State. It is also an offence to throw fireworks, either in the street or other public place. If you've noticed fewer fireworks around this year in the run-up to Hallowe'en, chances are it's due to the seizures - up to £1 million worth - that gardai have made in recent weeks, and their clampdown on street sellers. Sellers, though, are adopting a more clandestine approach and fireworks are still getting through. According to parents, likely looking youngsters are being approached in Dublin's city centre by touts who display fireworks hidden in newspapers. The kids are then brought to shops - one child mentioned a bookies' shop - where under-the-counter fireworks are on offer.

If you're 13 or 14, of course, all this is hugely exciting. However, the fact that youngsters are being lured away from main city-centre thoroughfares by strangers is disconcerting to say the least. Because fireworks are illegal, there are no regulations regarding their sale. Ireland is a dumping ground for unsafe fireworks, most of which come via Britain from China. Even in instances when they are relatively safe (and we have no way of knowing), their instructions are printed in Chinese and people can end up using them, unwittingly, in an unsafe way. Bangers are the most popular fireworks currently on the market. "Black Cats" are selling for only £2.50 per box, but they contain explosives. The paper is tightly wrapped around the powder which increases the explosive effect, Garda ballistic experts say. The bangers coming into the State are larger and more dangerous than they were in the past. Gardai are also concerned that increasingly, youngsters are using them in an aggressive way - throwing them at each other, at pets or into letterboxes to frighten people. Meanwhile Shooting Stars are selling for £2 each, High Fly Rockets £6 each, assorted rockets £5 each and Whistlers £2 per pack. One of the main problems with all of these is that if they fail to go off immediately, children rush to re-light them and are injured if they then explode. Rockets too, can backfire into the crowd; like the other fireworks, they are capable of igniting clothing.

Many people believe that it would be better if fireworks were legalised and their sales regulated. "The whole issue needs to be explored," Tempany says. "We need a public body to examine the matter." In Britain the firework industry has been deregulated and the fireworks import license abolished. According to Noel Tobin, director of the National Campaign for Firework Safety there, this has led to dangerous Chinese fireworks flooding that country. The organisation is calling for the reintroduction of licensing and the limitation of firework sales to adults only, as well as special licences and training schemes for people using display fireworks.

Last year, two adults and a child died in Britain in accidents involving fireworks. Do we have to wait until a similar fatality occurs here before something is done?

Bonfires are extremely dangerous and the risk to people and property in the city is now unacceptably high, according to Dublin Corporation. Corporation workers who deal with bonfires have been attacked and older people, children and householders are being put at risk.

Each Hallowe'en up to 300 bonfires are lit on Corporation land causing considerable damage. City hospitals report children, who have stood too close to bonfires, presenting with burns from sparks. In some cases, bonfires are left to smoulder unattended and even the following day can injure young children.

If you must light a bonfire, the advice from Dublin Corporation is:

site it away from buildings, trees or overhead cables;

light with firelighters, not petrol or paraffin;

don't throw fireworks on to it;

pour water on the embers before leaving the bonfire;

if it gets out of hand, call the fire brigade immediately.