There has been calls for a specialist group to be formed to tackle the issues of bonfires after the emergency services were once again inundated with call-outs on bonfire night on Tuesday (June 23). Incidents of anti-social behaviour and illegal fires were once again widespread throughout Cork, with gardaí and firefighters responding to over 200 call-outs on the night.

A number of properties were set ablaze over the course of the night, while there were also isolated incidents of assaults and vandalism at illegal bonfire sights throughout the city.

A Cork City Council sponsored event proved hugely successful however attracting upwards of 2000 people. Cork City Council co-sponsred a number of other events across the city on bonfore night which were all community lead. These were primarily held in Rapid areas where matching funding was available to enable the schemes to be held. The success of the bonfire, which took place at Clashduv Park, Togher, led Fine Gael Councillor John Buttimer to call on Cork City Council to establish a mutli-agency working group to identify and put in place strategies to manage bonfire night across the city.

Speaking following the Cork City Council event, Cllr Buttimer said that more preventive action need to be taken, with many of the illegal bonfire sites having been set-up weeks in advance.

"Bonfire night is an established part of Cork culture and tradition but it is no longer acceptable that communities should be placed under siege, that lives should be placed at risk or that the environment and health of local residents should be placed at risk. “Some of these bonfires took weeks to establish and preventative action should have been taken. The future of bonfire night lies in the development of planned and managed events which involve placing the traditions of bonfire night in a community and family context."

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