Safety First year-round planning helps maintain safety and security at City events

The City of Dublin and the Dublin Division of Police begin planning for the next Dublin Irish Festival as soon as the last one is completed. The Festival has grown from its initial roots as a small community event when it started in 1988 to the largest City event in Dublin with nearly 100,000 attendees every year. With an event this large, the City and the Division of Police take very seriously our responsibility to plan for a safe and secure Festival. While some safety statistics are confidential, the Division of Police will field officers in more than 100 security positions over the course of the three-day Festival. In addition, a large contingent of private security officers will augment the staff of the Police Division to help monitor Festival entrances, patrol Festival grounds and assist with crowd safety at all the concert stages.

I am a 19-year veteran of the Police Division, and responsible for planning and supervising the safety response to this year’s Irish Festival. I work closely with the Festival’s Director, Alison LeRoy. Together, we have fine-tuned an event safety plan that has contingencies for any type of emergency that may arise, including inclement weather, fire or criminal activity. The plan also identifies shelter areas – The Dublin Community Recreation Center, City Hall and Dublin Coffman High School – in the event of an emergency.

The Festival has had to utilize the safety plan twice in the last several years, both times for limited closures due to heavy rains, lightning and wind. To give police and event staff the most up-to-date information possible about weather safety, the Festival also utilizes the services of a professional meteorologist who is assigned to the command post throughout the event. This provides safety officials real-time information on any possible weather hazards as they evolve. The same meteorological service is utilized for the City’s Independence Day event.

Having a weather professional on site during our largest events is a huge asset when it comes to planning and making decisions about crowd safety. Weather hazards are the most common, and, potentially, one of the most dangerous threats to our events.

Other priorities for police during the Irish Festival are maintaining order, providing directions to patrons, locating lost children and enforcing alcohol and underage drinking laws. To assist with this last effort, the Division of Police employs civilian “R U 21” staff to help serve as extra eyes and ears to spot underage alcohol violators. This initiative has been used as part of the Festival’s safety plan for the past nine years.

Enforcing underage alcohol laws is a priority during City events. This year, just like every year, we will be out in force to ensure that the event and event-goers are safe.

We hope you enjoy this year’s Dublin Irish Festival, but most importantly, we want you to be safe.