Burning Man festival in Malahide

roneythetube

I saw this morning in the North County Leader (free newspaper) that the residents of Malahide were outraged at the shennenigans that were going on at the recent Burning Man festival held in Malahide Castle. Was anyone at this event? Or were you one of the residents who was put out by the noise from the festival.?
I had not even known that this was happening so close to me!:p

Sinemo

I live relatively close to the castle and it wasn't until a day or two after that I found out what had gone on! It was really noisey and I could have sworn that there was a concert going on there...apparently there were only 300 people at it?!

dsmythy

You should really know what to expect from a "burning man" festival!

Sinemo

dsmythy wrote: »

You should really know what to expect from a "burning man" festival!

Hardly, if we were never informed of what was happening, and had to do our own research as to what was going on!

santry_goonshow

Was the man made of Wicker? Coz if it was I am sure its was a tribute to Edward Woodward who passed away recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e7jiE2_KT4

Davy

Article in the northside people: Outrage over Malahide Castle event

MALAHIDE residents were left infuriated with their local authority last week after a major tourist attraction was used by a group to hold an all-night event.
Malahide Castle was the venue for a private party that kept some local residents up all night.
Fingal County Council issued an unreserved apology to residents for the disturbance arising from last Saturday week’s (November 21) event.
The party, dubbed ‘Smokin’ Craic’, was organised by the Irish section of the international Burning Man Festival who insisted that they worked closely with the council and local gardai at all times to keep the event under control.
Malahide ward councillor Alan Farrell (FG) told Northside People he first became aware of the noise at midnight when a local resident called to alert him.
He said he received calls throughout the night from locals concerned over music levels and the safety of the park.
Cllr Farrell accepted the council’s apology but has asked officials to inform councillors of future events that do not require a licence (under 5,000 participants) and have been granted permission.
“The events [at Malahide Castle] were an absolute disgrace,” Cllr Farrell declared.
“Given that participation of the event was advertised online, I am disappointed that the council did not investigate the matter thoroughly prior to the granting of permission.
“While I am hopeful that a line has been drawn under this matter, the council must learn from this error and put in place a robust set of criteria for private hire events on public properties under their jurisdiction.”
A notice posted on the event organisers’ website encouraged attendees to “bring your own booze and everything else”.
“Think about how long you'll be there (we're on for over 12 hours) and how much you're likely to consume, then bring it with you,” the notice on the website stated.
“If you don't bring your poison of choice, you'll be without it.”
A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council confirmed that they did give permission to hold a “multi-disciplinary arts event limited to 300 people on the west lawn of Malahide Castle on the night”.
“This was on the clear understanding that it would have no negative impact outside the castle,” the spokeswoman told Northside People.
She said that after meeting with the group the council was satisfied that they intended to meet this commitment.
“Unfortunately, it is very clear from complaints to the council on Sunday and Monday that local residents experienced unacceptable noise intrusion into their homes from this event and this is something we deeply regret,” she stated.
“The council sincerely and unreservedly apologises to residents for the disturbance from Saturday night’s event, as it was never our understanding that the event would cause such a nuisance.”
The council has assured residents that no event like this will be allowed to take place at the castle again.
Randy Ralston, a spokesperson for the organising group, said the Burning Man has a “long history of holding safe and legal events and this was no exception”.
Mr Ralston said the group had worked closely with Fingal County Council and the Fingal County Arts Department and followed the criteria they set out for them.
“We were also in contact with the guards about this event before, during and after it took place, obeying any directions they gave us,” he told Northside People.
“Additionally, we had park rangers on duty as well as private security, all hired at our expense.”
Mr Ralston pointed out that the extraordinarily strong wind that evening was carrying the sound further than anticipated.
He said they turned the sound down on their rig to compensate and took sound measurements throughout the rest of the night with a decibel meter to ensure compliance.
“We sincerely apologise if any local residents were inadvertently disturbed,” he stated.
Mr Ralston added that the only incident he was aware of was when a number of people had repeatedly climbed the fence on the night and tried to enter illegally and cause a nuisance.
He said they were peacefully escorted off the premises without incident.

Hauk

Sounded like great fun.

Splinter

i worked at this last year performign and it was held in the tivoli, this year somehow they got permission to hold it in the castle. i wasnt there myself. there was no burning of a wicker man and imo its just a giant party for the irish contingent of the people who go to the festival and nothing to do with the festival itself

Clare Bear

I think it's very bad form that no one was aware that it was going ahead though. Like with all the concerts in the castle everyone was told in advance and the madness usually ended at a relatively early time. This went on til all hours. I'm just jealous cause I hadn't heard anything about it and would have loved to have went but when it disrupts peoples' sleep, keeps their kids up, drives their dogs mad etc then it was bad form that no one was aware of this before it happened.

I think it's safe to say nothing like that will happen there again anyway after so many people complained.

Did anyone here go to it? Saw some photos of it, looked like good craic.

Alan Farrell

I got an email from an "organiser" of the event which is on my website which might be of interest.

http://alanfarrell.blogspot.com/2009/11/events-at-malahide-castle.html

Its funny that their various blogs advertised drug use etc with most references to that having since been removed.

Sid_Justice

TBH I find FingalCoCo quite naive in their approach. They allowed a group of 'hippies' to use the park and then took their word for it they'd keep it down?

I'm just wondering why the Council allowed the party to take place over night?

sdanseo

I'm shocked tbh that anyone would ring their local councilor at or after midnight to complain about noise. Stupid behaviour, I know it's your job Alan but you don't need to be woken up at all hours! I'm equally shocked that FCC allowed it, my guess is they just didn't realise it was basically a glorified rave.

Either way, I'm under a mile from the castle and this is the first I've heard of it. :rolleyes:

Splinter

Sid_Justice wrote: »

TBH I find FingalCoCo quite naive in their approach. They allowed a group of 'hippies' to use the park and then took their word for it they'd keep it down?

I'm just wondering why the Council allowed the party to take place over night?

this is a bit much tbh. while im not condoning the event, there was security there on the night and the rangers from the park and local guards there all through the night to ensure everything was ok. as for bunch of 'hippies', were you there? do you even know these people? I have met and worked with some of the folks that i know attend these events and your suspected opinion of them is not further from the truth. It is simple a group of friends/community that each year make the effort to fly to the states to go to the Burning Man festival.

why the Council agreed to it i don't know, I am aware other venues in Fingal were looked at and there was the possiblity of them being used but Malahide was chosen. Yes it was pretty much just a private party so perhaps the gripe people have should be with the council that agreed to this and not the people that said "any chance we can throw a party?" and they got the go ahead.

edit:
just a quick point, i myself do not attend burning man, nor was I an atendee at 'Smokin' Craic', I have simple worked at one of their events on a professional level last year

Alan Farrell

sdonn wrote: »

I'm shocked tbh that anyone would ring their local councilor at or after midnight to complain about noise

I was actually out with friends on the night and thought it might have been someone I knew so I answered the first call at 11pm. The last call was a different matter, a gent who roared down the phone at me without having the slightest notion of my role or responsibilities. I answered that call out of pure reflex at 130am, I had been sleeping.

Splinter wrote: »

there was security there on the night and the rangers from the park and local guards there all through the night to ensure everything was ok.

Actually, all council staff left the premises at 1030pm. The security guard (singular) who worked that night was employed by the organisers and can therefore be discounted as a "Council presence".

It should also be noted that according to reports, Malahide Gardai did not visit the site during the evening and it was also apparent that when called, a member of the Gardai referred callers to the Council, an exceptionally stupid thing to do at 2am.

The organisers were on public property an had a legal and moral responsibility to behave themselves. They failed. As I said on my blog and to the papers, no one forced the organisers to play music at that volume until 8am and blaming the weather is laughable.

Splinter wrote: »

why the Council agreed to it i don't know, I am aware other venues in Fingal were looked at and there was the possiblity of them being used but Malahide was chosen. Yes it was pretty much just a private party so perhaps the gripe people have should be with the council that agreed to this and not the people that said "any chance we can throw a party?" and they got the go ahead.

Apparently, the request to use the venue came via a trusted member of the Arts Community in Fingal who has a spotless record of adhering to all council requests when using public property. I understand that when the Arts section sought approval from the hierarchy of the department, it was given due to the inclusion of this persons name.

Splinter

Alan Farrell wrote: »

Actually, all council staff left the premises at 1030pm. The security guard (singular) who worked that night was employed by the organisers and can therefore be discounted as a "Council presence".

It should also be noted that according to reports, Malahide Gardai did not visit the site during the evening and it was also apparent that when called, a member of the Gardai referred callers to the Council, an exceptionally stupid thing to do at 2am.

My apologies, I was told the guards were there on the night by a patron of the event. For the guards to suggest that is a bit much to be honest, I would presume public order offences would be for them to deal with?

Alan Farrell

Splinter wrote: »

My apologies, I was told the guards were there on the night by a patron of the event. For the guards to suggest that is a bit much to be honest, I would presume public order offences would be for them to deal with?

Yes, Gardaí would be responsible for public order offences but I do not believe there were any reported to them and given the remote location, I would be very surprised if there had been.

roneythetube

Alan Farrell wrote: »

I got an email from an "organiser" of the event which is on my website which might be of interest.

http://alanfarrell.blogspot.com/2009/11/events-at-malahide-castle.html

Its funny that their various blogs advertised drug use etc with most references to that having since been removed.

Thanks for the link Alan. I am sure you are being sincere and honest in your reply but I have to be frank and say that I did not think much of your attitude towards the organiser of this event- especially the last sentence.
The 'I blame you' approach is not very helpful for anyone.

I have no links to the Burning Man community but I do know that they are not about holding 'glorified raves' as someone put it. They are driven by a vision of a better world where art and consciousness are explored and celebrated.

Where is the space for this type of event? If it is held without 'official' permission then the police raid and close down these events.
This country has a long history going back ten thousand years where people would gather to celebrate the changing of the seasons (Luanasa, Samhain etc) and life itself. These celebrations would also go on all night and often for days at a time.

It is a pity that those in power see fit to try and crush this celebration of art and life...BTW for those who do not know - magic mushrooms grow all over this country and were used in abundance by our ancestors at all night musical events similar to the Burning Man event.

I am sorry for those whose sleep was disturbed on this night. I hope you get over it.

Alan Farrell

roneythetube wrote: »

...I did not think much of your attitude towards the organiser of this event- especially the last sentence.
The 'I blame you' approach is not very helpful for anyone.

I was not trying to be helpful to the event organiser.

roneythetube wrote: »

I have no links to the Burning Man community but I do know that they are not about holding 'glorified raves' as someone put it. They are driven by a vision of a better world where art and consciousness are explored and celebrated.

The links I saw, which were forwarded to me by a reporter had references to drugs and alcohol. Given these substances, I could certainly envisage visions and semi consciousness being explored.

roneythetube wrote: »

Where is the space for this type of event? If it is held without 'official' permission then the police raid and close down these events.

If the Gardaí feel the need to raid and close down events of this type, perhaps they should not occur in the first place, either with or without permission.

roneythetube wrote: »

This country has a long history going back ten thousand years where people would gather to celebrate the changing of the seasons (Luanasa, Samhain etc) and life itself. These celebrations would also go on all night and often for days at a time.

That may be so, but they did not have Amplifiers, decks etc. thousands of years ago.

These are the same arguments put forward by the "randy" who responded to my blog. They are unjustifiable and are simply an attempt at distracting from the fact that what went on on November 21st and 22nd was illegal, immoral and disturbed hundreds if not thousands of people in the middle of the night.

sdanseo

Alan Farrell wrote: »

roneythetube wrote: »

They are driven by a vision of a better world where art and consciousness are explored and celebrated.

The links I saw, which were forwarded to me by a reporter had references to drugs and alcohol. Given these substances, I could certainly envisage visions and semi consciousness being explored.

Politicians generally don't make me laugh but I got a giggle out of that even if that wasn't the intention :P

@roneythetube, there's very little point apologising. The group that organised this knew damn well how much noise they were going to make and they cheated FCC out of a licence by getting a well-behaved and respected friend/colleague to basically lie his face off when applying for it. That's cheap, dishonest and illegal.

Splinter

There's one thing really irking me over all of this. As pointed out above, you "blame" the event organiser. I presume you also blame the arts council for agreeing to this? they simply tried their hands at organising a party and asking those to needed to be asked and the council said "sure, go ahead". Personally i'd be more annoyed with them than anyone else. Maybe it's just me but I dont agree with the council appearing to pass the blame to the event organiser when it appears they screwed up by allowing it in the first place?

Alan Farrell

Splinter wrote: »

There's one thing really irking me over all of this. As pointed out above, you "blame" the event organiser. I presume you also blame the arts council for agreeing to this? they simply tried their hands at organising a party and asking those to needed to be asked and the council said "sure, go ahead". Personally i'd be more annoyed with them than anyone else. Maybe it's just me but I dont agree with the council appearing to pass the blame to the event organiser when it appears they screwed up by allowing it in the first place?

I accept that Splinter and initially, I most certainly did blame the Arts Section & the Community Department in the Council but within 48 hours of the event, they issued an unreserved apology (which is on my website). The organisers of the event pedalled the response on my website and a further response which I did not publish. At no time have they apologised for disturbing people.

At least the council put their hands up from day one and said we made a mistake.

I have to agree with the following post which sums up the sentiment of what went on.

sdonn wrote: »

The group that organised this knew damn well how much noise they were going to make and they cheated FCC out of a licence by getting a well-behaved and respected friend/colleague to basically lie his face off when applying for it. That's cheap, dishonest and illegal.

I should point out that as a result of this event, all future unlicensed events (where the capacity is under 5,000 people) which do not require planning permission are to be run past the elected member of the council. Meaning we can veto if required.

No burning men, smokin craic need apply.

ragg

WOW - what would we do without Alan :rolleyes:

Heres to organised tea parties in future - i wonder if you see the irony of you posting marijuana innuendos on your twitter

Alan Farrell

ragg wrote: »

i wonder if you see the irony of you posting marijuana innuendos on your twitter

The bit where I said, "No pun intended" didn't work for you?

I was in Amsterdam at the time.

roneythetube

I expected no better from a politician - no attempt to engage or understand.
as usual its the 'Do it my way or forget about it' approach...not even trying to help - only interested in imposing your view and morality ( God preserve us from moralising politicians).
well the times are a changin'. There is a seismic consciousness shift occurring and that mentality is yesterdays news..:D

see yis on the other side (those who make it)..ta-ra

keep on burnin'

ragg

Alan Farrell wrote: »

The bit where I said, "No pun intended" didn't work for you?

I was in Amsterdam at the time.

Its no different than the "smokin craic" line that you seem to have a major problem with on the burning man ads - a drug joke, is a drug joke, is a drug joke - no matter what way you want to dress it up.

Táck

roneythetube wrote: »

I expected no better from a politician - no attempt to engage or understand.
as usual its the 'Do it my way or forget about it' approach...not even trying to help - only interested in imposing your view and morality ( God preserve us from moralising politicians).
well the times are a changin'. There is a seismic consciousness shift occurring and that mentality is yesterdays news..:D

see yis on the other side (those who make it)..ta-ra

keep on burnin'

very well said. keep on keepin on.

Dreambiz

Right, I would like to set the record straight about a few things.

I am one of the (community of) organisers of the non-commercial community arts event to which you refer in this thread.

Our community has a long history of holding safe and legal events and this one was no exception. Everything about this arts event was completely legal, honest, transparent.

The evening was arranged in conjunction with the Fingal County Council and the Fingal County Arts Department. We worked closely with them and followed the criteria they put out for us. We also were in contact with the guards about this event before, during, and after it took place, obeying any directions and guidelines they gave us. We explained exactly what was going to happen and when, with a full schedule provided in advance to both agencies. Additionally, we had (two) Park Rangers on duty as well as (four) private security guards - all hired at our expense.

Although music was not the focus of the event, there was a sound element and there was only one live band that played for 40 minutes starting at 11:30pm. Shortly after this we had a visit from the local guard who said he had received some calls and asked us to turn it down a bit. He made it clear this was a friendly visit and not a warning. It would appear that the extraordinarily strong gale-force wind that evening was unfortunately carrying the sound farther than usual. We obliged immediately, taking sound measurements throughout the rest of the night with a decibel meter to ensure continued compliance. It should be noted that of the sound professionals employed for the event, one is a former noise enforcement officer for a County Council.

There were no further requests from the Gardai and no mention of any further complaints when we called them at 5am to check in, nor was there any mention of additional complaints when we met with them the following morning.

We sought to be completely compliant and sensitive to all rules and neighbour impact, so hearing that calls were made to politicians days after the event was disheartening. You can perhaps understand how we were completely surprised to receive press enquiries about some kind of problem.

As a community driven all-volunteer art event that is committed to Leave No Trace environmental sensitivity, having such complaints arise without adequate notice to respond during our event works against the spirit and very objective of our community. We wish to bring people together in meaningful ways around artistic expression, not to separate or alienate people in any way.

Of course we are dismayed by the unusual weather conditions outside of our control that contributed to the legal sound level causing a problem for some people. We sincerely apologise to any local residents that were inadvertently disturbed.

We will be getting in touch with the facility to see what can be learned so that cultural events with a sound element can continue at the Castle and neighbours can still enjoy peace of mind in their own homes.

It is our hope that the positive impact of this event will be remembered long after the complaints have been forgotten.

Fingal should be applauded for their contribution to the arts in Ireland. We thank them for having the courage and vision to invite us to Malahide. For one day at least, some creative, safe, and legal fun was brought in to alleviate the pervasive negativity of the present day.

Sincerely,

- Randy Ralston

ragg

Wish I knew it was on - I would have went out -
its fantastic to see something like this going on in my local area. Shame it wont happen again as our local council have got their knickers in a twist over this.

Dreambiz can you pm me some info & links on the Irish burning man thing the other night- sounds really interesting. Thanks

roneythetube

I would also love to have gone to this event. If it is what the people want well then another one may yet be held again in Fingal. After all the purpose of the council is to SERVE its citizens....

tbh

I'll preface this by saying I wasn't there, but Alan, I'm dissapointed with what appears to be a knee-jerk reaction from you.

Alan Farrell wrote: »

If the Gardaí feel the need to raid and close down events of this type, perhaps they should not occur in the first place, either with or without permission.

they didn't raid it tho, did they? and they didn't close it down. Do you think that was incompetence on their part, or do you think that maybe they decided they didn't need to take any action. It's got to be one or the other, to be frank. I mean, if thousands of people were inconvenienced enough to complain, you would think the guards would have done something, right? So either they didn't get enough complaints, or else they did, and they just ignored them. What do you think happened?

These are the same arguments put forward by the "randy" who responded to my blog. They are unjustifiable and are simply an attempt at distracting from the fact that what went on on November 21st and 22nd was illegal, immoral and disturbed hundreds if not thousands of people in the middle of the night.

illegal? How illegal? Immoral? Kind of subjective isn't it? it seems to me that you're getting outraged based on a couple of calls. It's a small city, Alan, we're all confronted with events we don't like.

I would have had more confidence in you if you'd said "lets take a look at what happened, so that next time we can ensure that the guys can have their party without waking anyone up" rather than go for the easy "shut the drug den down" argument. Just my 2c.

lostexpectation

sure go into any proper nightclub and you'll have all sorts of substances being taken