Car driven onto a bonfire in Mitchelstown

A public official has claimed Halloween celebrations in one Co Cork town are “getting out of hand” after a car was driven into a bonfire on Monday night.

The fire service was tasked to a residential area in Mitchelstown after people living there reported the incident.

Yesterday, the burnt-out remains of what appears to be a Peugeot hatchback were visible in the remains of the fire.

Fine Gael councillor Kay Dawson claimed household waste, couches and mattresses were among the things which were thrown onto the bonfire in the north Cork town.

“The first phone calls I would have received were on Sunday — that the quantity of stuff being piled for the bonfire was starting to look like it would create problems,” Ms Dawson told Cork Today on C103FM.

She said gardaí were contacted following residents’ concerns, but the people involved continued to throw rubbish onto the fire.

“This was an out of control means of getting rid of everything and anything,” she said.

The Dublin Fire Brigade, meanwhile, also tasked a fire engine from Dolphin’s Barn to attend a car which was driven onto a bonfire near Quarryvale, also on Monday night.

Reports on social media claimed personnel from the fire brigade who attended the scene were targetted by people throwing fireworks.