Angry Oxegen fans left shaken by 'gangs attacking, slashing tents'
Mud made aspects of the Oxegen music festival a tough endurance test, with one caller to yesterday's 'Liveline' describing the site as "amost like a shanty town".
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Tuesday July 10 2007
THE Oxegen music festival has been rocked by allegations of chaos, crime - and even an attack on a RTE roadcaster.
Angry callers rang the national airwaves yesterday in a bid to vent their frustration and anger at the lack of security on site and unprovoked attacks.
On the unofficial 2007 Oxegen Festival fans forum (www.oxegenforum.com), fans claimed they were threatened with being burnt out of their tents.
It is also understood that a backup RTE roadcaster - parked near security personnel - was broken into. According to an RTE spokesperson, however, the damage done to the vehicle was minimal and did not create any problems with transmission.
Some concert-goers called RTE's Liveline and said their three-day experience had been "frightening, almost like a shanty town".
Fans claimed that tents were slashed and burnt and that many personal items had been stolen. They also claimed cars - located near secure areas - were ransacked and damaged by screwdriver marks, while their windows were broken.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Brona O'Sullivan (17), from Meath, said that she had been "shaken" when she was left to defend her tent from 10 random people on the B27 campsite on Saturday night.
"I was really confused when I reached my tent. My tent had been ripped open and there were 10 people, mostly boys, in there that I had never seen before."
After an argument she said they finally left.
According to Jenifer O'Neill (26), from Ballymun - whose car was damaged in carpark 1B - the experience was "not a good one from start to finish".
After checking the car on Saturday her boyfriend noticed screwdriver marks on the paintwork, adding that "a lot of the cars had their windows smashed".
Hazel Byrne (18) encountered similar car damage in the same area - while her iPod and cash were also stolen. She described the experience as awful. "There seemed to be no security down there," she said.
According to Cork mother, Helen Hayes - whose daughter and friends were attacked in their tents - looting and vandalism was the only way the concert could be described.
"I brought home my daughter and her friends from the festival and I have never seen them so shaken. Two of the girls had been inside the tent when it was slashed."
Frightened
She added that her 17-year-old daughter and her friends were so frightened they stayed in the tent for 22 hours and waited for her to collect them. One 25-year-old told the Irish Independent last night that he had seen a group of "16-year-old boys violently beating tents with large poles".
One fan - speaking on the Oxegen festival forum - claimed he had been threatened with being burnt out of his tent.
"Basically, they stole stuff, wrote on our tent, threatened us with getting burnt out of the tent, and challenged us to fights all night. They didn't even have wristbands on either."
According to gardai, one person was arrested for theft, while 52 arrests were made for public disorder offences. One arrest was made relating to the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, while 405 drug seizures took place. There were 20 arrests for the possession of drugs for unlawful sale or supply.
From 8am on Friday until 4pm yesterday 56 festival-goers were taken to hospital - only 0.07pc of the festival's 80,000 capacity.
- Patricia McDonagh
