nerraw Basic Member Posts:475  
| 7/18/2006 4:30 PM |
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From the Sunday Mirror in their own restrained manner complete with quotes from the oxegen message board.
TERRIFIED music fans feared for their lives as drunken gangs ran amok through the official Oxegen campsite at Punchestown racecourse last weekend.
As more than 80,000 people attended the two-day music festival, revellers who stayed in the festival campsites slammed the organisers through a chatroom on the official Oxegen website.
One music fan said a drunken mob set fire to tents on the last night of the festival.
He said: "Ironically, I had a great laugh at the gig jumping around to the Kaiser Chiefs as they played their hit 'I Predict a Riot'. But I don't think even they could have predicted the trouble that broke out later that night.
"We spent the whole night huddled in our tent in fear for our safety."
More than 9,000 people camped out in the sites provided by festival promoters MCD.
But one music fan from Mayo said drunken gangs ran amok in the two areas of the campsite on Sunday night.
He said: "It started with groups of drunken teenagers throwing things at rival groups and starting fires. But this soon moved on - and random tents and people were being attacked.
"My friends and I - and all our neighbours - formed a group of about 20 people who stayed up all night to protect our tents."
He said: "Security would arrive now and again to quench fires but I didn't think they could deal with the situation.
"There were fires going on all the time, and people were throwing things in. It sounded like deodorant cans were exploding.
"I saw fireworks being thrown into fires, deodorant cans, tents and anything else available being used as fuel.
He said: "There was no trouble at first - but on Sunday afternoon at around 5 o'clock there were a bunch of new drunken louts beside us.
"They were belting each other with the mallet for driving down tent stakes and then they started pulling down tents and stuff.
"I saw some security watching over the campsites from those little watchtower things."
But then in a change of tactics he said security guards rushed the campsite at 5 in the morning - and cleared everyone out.
He said: "On Monday morning a load of security guards came down to me and my friend.
"They told me to get my tent but not i to bother packing up my stuff - just drag my tent along with me."
One perosn claiming to be a security I guard said on the chatroom: "The force : we used to get rid of the yobs was justified " and needed, it is unfortunate that a few innocent people had to be evicted well.""
But a spokesman for Oxegen promoters MCD said there were only a j few isolated incidents in the campsites. j
He said: "About 30 troublemakers were evicted from site early Sunday morning for unruly behaviour. Two ' tents were set alight which were quickly put out.
"We are at a loss to understand why: you believe this is worthy of a story."
The annual event at Punchestown: racecourse, Co. Kildare, was a massive hit with fans but was blighted by foul weather last weekend.
Gardai arrested 13 drug dealers ft and more than 200 users.
Cocaine, ecstasy and hash were seized by undercover officers.
A Garda spokesman said: "We I arrested 225 people for possession of I drugs including 13 charged with f possession with intent to supply."
But organisers hailed the event I headline by The Who. a majorC success.
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kavobagginsBasic Member Posts:199
| 7/18/2006 4:39 PM |
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The Mirror also used a photo taken directly from the trouble at Reading/Leeds last year as their main picture.
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Mully Advanced Member Posts:849
| 7/18/2006 4:47 PM |
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http://www.indymedia.ie/article/77264
More of the same ... Includes the front cover of the Sunday Mirror.
I can count more than 2 tents on fire, but mcd say only 2 were on fire, & were quickly taken care of, making the story not very newsworthy, then who are we to argue ...
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cometBasic Member Posts:485
| 7/18/2006 4:52 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nerraw
"We are at a loss to understand why: you believe this is worthy of a story."
quote:
Originally posted by nerraw
More than 9,000 people camped out in the sites provided by festival promoters MCD.
Is that all that camped there?? I thought it was a lot more than that!
quote:
Originally posted by kavobaggins
The Mirror also used a photo taken directly from the trouble at Reading/Leeds last year as their main picture.
A lot of people were looking at youtube videos of the Download riots and fires thinking they were Oxegen too. |
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| 7/18/2006 5:21 PM |
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Say if you are one of the big promoters like MCD, how would you stop f**kwit skangers coming to your festival and ruining it in the first place??dont think its possible,I know EP attracts a different kind of crowd mainly through the line-up but should people have to go through all that crap that went on at oxegen just because there's a broader more 'mainstream' line-up?my friends and I were having a conversation about this the other night and trying to dream up the perfect festival but at the end of the day even if you have the best line-up(totally subjective i know), the best facilites, the best security you still can;t stop the scumbags from coming in and ruining it all,its not like you can stop people on the way in for wearing trackies or football jerseys (hmm or could you?) i spose if there's gonna be tens of thousands of people together in a field drinking and doing drugs surely its got to get messy at some stage, dont know why people are really suprised at what went on, i think if you;re going to a more mainstream festival you have to expect to put up with some level of sh*t, otherwise just dont bother going, i dont see how they can ever come up with a flawless destival experience unless you;re targeting a fairly small demographic
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Una Veteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/18/2006 5:45 PM |
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a lot more than 9,000 people camp, I think. The cops told me that 53,000 cars arrived on Friday - the day before the festival. I think, in general, the majority of people who attend Oxegen, camp.
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PunchbowlBasic Member Posts:205
| 7/18/2006 6:09 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mar
Say if you are one of the big promoters like MCD, how would you stop f**kwit skangers coming to your festival and ruining it in the first place??dont think its possible,I know EP attracts a different kind of crowd mainly through the line-up but should people have to go through all that crap that went on at oxegen just because there's a broader more 'mainstream' line-up?my friends and I were having a conversation about this the other night and trying to dream up the perfect festival but at the end of the day even if you have the best line-up(totally subjective i know), the best facilites, the best security you still can;t stop the scumbags from coming in and ruining it all,its not like you can stop people on the way in for wearing trackies or football jerseys (hmm or could you?) i spose if there's gonna be tens of thousands of people together in a field drinking and doing drugs surely its got to get messy at some stage, dont know why people are really suprised at what went on, i think if you;re going to a more mainstream festival you have to expect to put up with some level of sh*t, otherwise just dont bother going, i dont see how they can ever come up with a flawless destival experience unless you;re targeting a fairly small demographic
Perhaps arrange for Dublin to be playing in Donegal that weekend?
I don't think the line-up is a major issue. It's a national event now, and really, since they started selling tickets before the line-up was announced it became more about the weekend away than the music itself. It might be harsh, but restricting camping is one way of dealing with it. Maybe even a camping 'Deposit' could be feasible??
But then again there is a genuine problem with our society. Incidents like this will happen again, although perhaps not at say, the Midlands festival, but elsewhere. AND It's not as simple as saying 'Drunken ' gangs ran amok, I was part of a drunken gang and I certainly didn't, but as usual drink will be blamed, Heineken will probably back away from the whole gig and it'll eventually be cancelled doe to lack of sponsorship. And all because the Celtic Tiger has made us a country full of nicely wealthy Skobies. |
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/18/2006 6:31 PM |
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it's got nothing to do with being drunk, doing drugs, liking a certain kind of music or clothing yourself in a certain type of attire. Groups of young men (and some young women) everywhere will always act the eejit and annoy people who don't want to act the eejit, and cause a certain amount of damage and displeasure along the way. You get the same in every city/town centre every night of the weekend. With 70,000 people in one place, why would Oxegen be exempt from this?
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GarretBasic Member Posts:244
| 7/18/2006 6:37 PM |
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The quote from a security guard wasnt a security guard but someone who posts under the name EventSec on the forums. Anto_From_A10 posted two of those pictures, neither of which were from Oxegen.
AND the spelt person wrong
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UnicronVeteran Member Posts:1696
| 7/18/2006 6:55 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Una
it's got nothing to do with being drunk, doing drugs, liking a certain kind of music or clothing yourself in a certain type of attire. Groups of young men (and some young women) everywhere will always act the eejit and annoy people who don't want to act the eejit, and cause a certain amount of damage and displeasure along the way. You get the same in every city/town centre every night of the weekend. With 70,000 people in one place, why would Oxegen be exempt from this?
But it doesn't happen at many other festivals though.
I think the obvious solution is to ban booze from these events and to give every attendee massive quantities of dope, pills and shrooms. No problems with violence there then. |
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UnaVeteran Member Posts:1721
| 7/18/2006 7:21 PM |
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here here Unicron!
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 7/19/2006 12:01 AM |
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This is one of the reason I don't like weekend festivals that involve camping. The shorter the festival, the easier it is to manage. What's wrong with a one day festival anyway. The first Electric Picnic was great despite it's relatively modest line-up. I like to pay for the privilege of seeing lots of great music, not sleeping in a tent.
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Rev JulesVeteran Member Posts:1041
| 7/19/2006 1:19 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Binokular
This is one of the reason I don't like weekend festivals that involve camping. The shorter the festival, the easier it is to manage. What's wrong with a one day festival anyway. The first Electric Picnic was great despite it's relatively modest line-up. I like to pay for the privilege of seeing lots of great music, not sleeping in a tent.
I agree, if you want to camp, join the scouts, unless of course you are at an age where that would look a tad dodgy 
Me, I f**king hate camping. |
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| 7/19/2006 7:03 AM |
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And I thought I had problems at the Sasquatch festival being woken by a bunch of drunken Canucks singing 'O Canada'.
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off the postBasic Member Posts:284
| 7/19/2006 9:13 AM |
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Maybe if the Guards stopped arresting people for drugs it might just reduce the amount of drunken fools...
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kavobagginsBasic Member Posts:199
| 7/19/2006 10:16 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by off the post
Maybe if the Guards stopped arresting people for drugs it might just reduce the amount of drunken fools...
...or if they spent more time actually trying to police the place and concentrating on generally drunken misbehaviour and violent acts rather than trying to nab people with a quarter in their pockets. |
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kavobagginsBasic Member Posts:199
| 7/19/2006 10:20 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mar
i spose if there's gonna be tens of thousands of people together in a field drinking and doing drugs surely its got to get messy at some stage, dont know why people are really suprised at what went on,
But is Glastonbury not a mainstream festival at this stage? The weekend Glastonbury is on every year it becomes the biggest town in southern England, yet has one of the lowest crime rates. And the english people are supposed to be the yobs???
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benniAdvanced Member Posts:947
| 7/19/2006 10:26 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by kavobaggins
quote:
Originally posted by off the post
Maybe if the Guards stopped arresting people for drugs it might just reduce the amount of drunken fools...
...or if they spent more time actually trying to police the place and concentrating on generally drunken misbehaviour and violent acts rather than trying to nab people with a quarter in their pockets.
Damn straight  |
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DaraghAdvanced Member Posts:666
| 7/19/2006 10:57 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by kavobaggins
quote:
Originally posted by off the post
Maybe if the Guards stopped arresting people for drugs it might just reduce the amount of drunken fools...
...or if they spent more time actually trying to police the place and concentrating on generally drunken misbehaviour and violent acts rather than trying to nab people with a quarter in their pockets.
agreed. f**king ridiculous if you ask me. but thats a whole other kettle of fish.
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| 7/19/2006 11:35 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by kavobaggins
quote:
Originally posted by Mar
i spose if there's gonna be tens of thousands of people together in a field drinking and doing drugs surely its got to get messy at some stage, dont know why people are really suprised at what went on,
But is Glastonbury not a mainstream festival at this stage? The weekend Glastonbury is on every year it becomes the biggest town in southern England, yet has one of the lowest crime rates. And the english people are supposed to be the yobs???
yeah i know , i only meant in the context of an Irish festival, ive been to others in different countries and never see the same amount of trouble, reckon its because oxegen has gone more the way of a weekends p*ss up for all the young uns rather than anything to do with music |
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