The Garda warned of firework dangers with a bang yesterday morning, by blowing up a firework in a plaster cast hand. The hand was missing a few fingers after the explosion.
"We were trying to show the dangers that parents are unwittingly subjecting their children to. Children receive life-altering injuries as a result of fireworks," Insp Ray McHugh said.
Dr Margaret O'Donnell, a plastic surgeon, said fireworks could cause facial disfigurement, loss of limbs, eye injuries, burns and scars. Dr David Orr, a plastic surgeon at St Vincent's Hospital, described fireworks as "mini-grenades".
"A big firecracker will literally blow your hand apart," he said. "And the ones that have the most cache for naughty teenagers are the really big, explosive ones."
Dr O'Donnell said while children needed to be aware of the safety message, it was teenagers and adults who were more often injured.
"They tend to have more serious injuries because they are using the more powerful and more expensive fireworks."
According to health boards and hospitals, injuries from fireworks and bonfires increase in the run-up to Hallowe'en, but there are no exact figures.
Fireworks are illegal in Ireland for personal use (public fireworks displays have to be licensed). Insp McHugh said the smuggled supplies come mainly from Northern Ireland, although some are from China. Over the past month, gardaí have seized more than 300,000 worth of illegal fireworks.
Insp McHugh said the illegal fireworks tended to be substandard and manufactured unsafely, causing even more injuries.
The other Hallowe'en danger is from bonfires.
Deputy Government chief whip, Mr Billy Kelleher, issued a statement warning garages against selling petrol in cans to young people, to prevent fuelled bonfires.
Dr O'Donnell said she had already seen 20 injuries this year caused by throwing petrol on a fire.
Yet amidst all the warnings, one organisation is trying to improve Hallowe'en's bad rap. The South Dublin Chamber of Commerce wants to make the Hell Fire Club, situated in the scenic Dublin Mountains, an international destination for a family-oriented Hallowe'en celebration.
The chamber said it wants to reinvent Hallowe'en "as a family festival with song, storytelling and family activities that are really Irish values for this Irish holiday".
The chamber said the location was ideally suited to a festival and could create a big event at a time when tourism was slowing.