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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Dan Grennan

Residents slam 'absolute disgrace' student night at Ringsend Greyhound Stadium

Residents have described a student event at Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium as an "absolute disgrace" after their community was treated like a "public toilet".

An advert for Tuesday night's event said the venue "will be close to bursting point" when 4,000 students descend on the Ringsend venue. Six races ran during the event which kicked off at 7.30pm and ended at 9.30pm.

A number of revellers were turned away from the event because they were "in a state of intoxication", a statement on behalf of the stadium noted. Some of those who were turned away were treated by St. John Ambulance staff before they were discharged.

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A number of residents have complained about the event to local representatives. One local said those at the event were using "everywhere as a public toilet" with vomit and cans of beer all over the place. They described it as an "absolute disgrace".

They added that another resident asked a group from the event to stop urinating on her door.

Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews criticised Shelbourne Park and said there have been issues with the stadium for years. He said: “Clearly they knew it was going to be difficult to manage.

"A private company cannot rely on the Gardai being a private security for them. They need to get their own house in order first and over the years they haven’t shown a huge willingness to engage with residents.

"Over the years, there have been ongoing difficulties between residents and the management of the exiting and entry of the customers. They have to take the responsibility and their responsibility goes outside their immediate boundary."

He added: "If they are going to be bringing in 4,000 young people, they need to have a better management plan in place.”

A statement from Greyhound Racing Ireland the organisation "fully acknowledges the concerns expressed by residents regarding the event on November 15 and will ensure that full engagement with residents will take place in advance of all future additional event nights with large attendances in Shelbourne.

"It is important to us that we have a good relationship with residents and that they feel assured that we are doing everything we can to run a safe, respectful event."

They added they "anticipated it would be a busy event, and staffed security accordingly". A spokeswoman said: "37 security staff were deployed on site (above 1 per 100 attending) with an additional 20 stewards present at the front gates and on the South Lotts Road.

"The security arrangement was substantially more than what would be in place for a derby night, which has a similar crowd number."

However, the spokeswoman added that more security staff would be added on South Lotts Road after a review took place. She said: "Following a review of this event, GRI accepts that the security presence on South Lotts Road should be increased for subsequent events, both before and after, to prevent any disturbance to local residents, or infringement to their property."

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