A family friendly Halloween event in Portlaw was marred slightly by dangerous use of illegal fireworks last night.
Portlaw Task Force ran their annual Halloween parade in the village which was attended by several hundred children and parents.
According to reports, it all went very well except for an incident where, separately, some people set off fireworks.
Portlaw councillor, Declan Clune, was one of those who attended last night.
"Unfortunately, there seems to have been a small minority there who set off some fireworks," said Portlaw councillor Declan Clune, who was one of those at the parade last night, "There was a window of a house apparently damaged.
"Also there were some fireworks that flew over the heads of some children coming out of the local store, which obviously caused alarm for parents that were there - totally understandable."
"Look, it was an unfortunate event."
However, Councillor Clune says credit is due to the Gardaí who were on the scene very quickly, trying to identify the culprits.
"Even late last night - up to 2am - there were fireworks going off in and around the village," said the Independent representative, "It's not ideal for anyone who has pets, or anyone trying to sleep, or the elderly, etc.
"So, we're hoping that those involved might refrain tonight, just to leave the kids go out Trick or Treating in peace, without having to worry about fireworks flying over their head."
Garda Operation Tombola
The incident comes as Garda Operation Tombola is underway across Waterford for Halloween.
"It's an operation that's in place every Halloween," says Waterford's Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant Deirdre O'Neill.
She told WLR's most recent Waterford Garda Watch that it's in place across the three districts.
"There will be extra resources on duty to perform extra checkpoints and also to tackle any incidents of anti-social behaviour.
"We do have extra members on duty on Halloween. It's an extremely busy time for all emergency services so we want everyone to have a safe and happy Halloween.
"We'd ask people to remember that there are elderly and vulnerable people in our community who find this a particularly stressful time of the year."
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