Dublin train services disrupted by ‘drunken incidents’ in wake of schools rugby match

EOIN BURKE-KENNEDY

Dublin Dart and train services were suspended for a time on Monday evening following a number of drunken incidents in the wake of the Leinster Senior Schools rugby cup final at the Aviva Stadium.

Iarnród Éireann said it was forced to halt rail services in both directions for at least 30 minutes after rugby fans jumped on the barriers at Sandymount level crossing, posing a safety risk to themselves and to oncoming trains.

A spokeswoman said there had been “general drunken behaviour” on the platforms at Lansdowne Road and Sandymount stations following the match between Dublin rivals Blackrock College and St Michael’s College.

“We had situation in and around 6.30-7pm on Monday night involving a number of fans who had been attending the match or who had been hanging around after.”

She said staff at Sandymount were forced to call the gardaí at one stage when a number of individuals jumped on the barriers at the level crossing.

The fans later dispersed after gardaí arrived but the barriers were damaged during the incident causing rail delays in both directions.

Iarnród Éireann staff were obliged to manually raise and lower the barriers for a time as a result of the damage.

“There was damage done to the barriers at Sandymount which was rectified later in the evening, but we did have delays of up 30 minutes as a result,” the spokeswoman said.

“It’s something we were not very happy with. Vandalism is a problem we suffer from. Not only does it have a financial costs but it causes delays to our services and delays to our customers,” she said.

A Garda spokesman confirmed a number of units had been called to the station but could give no further details.

Neither school could be contacted yesterday evening in relation to the incident.

Monday’s match, the pinnacle of the schools rugby season, was attended by an estimated crowd of 14,800.