Gardaí remove drunk underage teens from disco

Gardaí had to be called to remove drunken teenagers from an Easter break disco in Cork City.

The incident occurred at St Finbarr’s Hurling and Football Club in Togher on Tuesday night.

Mick Comyns, PRO for the club, said gardaí were called after one of the youngsters set off a fire extinguisher.

He said: “A number of young people were drunk, but that happens at every youth disco. Our policy is that we don’t let anyone in who is drunk.”

Mr Comyns said there were nine security staff on duty on the night responsible for vetting youngsters.

“They don’t allow anyone who is drunk in. They contact the parents to come and take them away,” he said.

He said the club operated a “zero tolerance” policy in relation to drinking at underage discos. Three teens were removed by gardaí.

However, one eyewitness, a mother who was dropping her 15-year-old son to the venue, described the scene as “intimidating” and “alarming”. She said there were a “couple of hundred” youngsters queuing to get in, the majority of whom were carrying haversacks and gear bags.

“I presume the girls had changes of clothes and that the boys had drink and I didn’t see anyone checking bags,” she said.

However, she did add that she did not enter the venue.

The mother said she saw security stopping one teenager “who could barely walk he was so drunk” and that there were one or two others vomiting in the queue. At least one youngster was removed by a squad car, she said.

“I dropped my own son off but I had serious regrets. If it had been a girl, I would not have left her there,” she said. Her son subsequently left the venue without ever entering the clubhouse.

Mr Comyns said the disco was organised by the Hope Foundation for Transition Year students.