Welcome to party central in the capital

Geraldine Gittens

It was party central in the capital last night as thousands of Leaving Cert students celebrated their results.

Our pictures show one girl in a confrontation with a garda. At one stage the reveller finds herself on her bottom and the young officer simply asks her to stay safe and get home intact.

For the vast majority of or students, it was an A1 for good behaviour, albeit there were some tired and emotional scenes by the early hours of the morning.

Overall, gardai reported a "relatively quiet" night with just a few minor incidents.

Thousands of students on the north side flocked to the Wright Venue in Swords, while on the south side, Club 92 was a veritable catwalk of six-inch heels and mini-skirts.

Outside the Leopardstown club, Muckross College students said they were both relieved and delighted with their results.

Sorcha Mullen (18), from Ranelagh, said: "I got 590, so I hope to do medicine. I'm here because everyone from the south side is going tonight."

Great

And her friend Patricia Golden(18) said: "I got 520 and I hope to do law. I'm heading into Club 92 because I heard it was going to be packed and we got our tickets ages ago for €10."

In the Wright Venue, Emma Teeling (18), from Finglas, was prepared to join the end of a queue of hundreds of students, to party the night away with her friends

"I came here for Leaving Cert night because I knew it would be a good night. I got 350 points so I was delighted, I jumped 110 from the mocks. Hopefully it'll be a good night with all the different DJs. I was here last year and it was great craic."

Allison Reilly (18), from Loretto, Balbriggan, said: "I usually stick to my local but this is going to be lots of fun. It's my first time here and it should be a big night."

Seamus McGowan, from Skerries, said that now that his worries are over, he was ready to party.

"I can't wait to let loose. I was pretty happy with maths especially. I just plan now to have a good time and celebrate the results."

Rachel Sherman (18) added: "We're going to have lots of cocktails and have a good night with all our friends."

Back in town, despite best behaviour, overall there were some minor incidents as the night rolled on. Gardai tried to break up a scuffle in Temple Bar at around 3am.

Two garda riot vans and two squad cars descended on the scene within seconds, as gardai had been patrolling Temple Bar and O'Connell Street areas all night. Fears had arisen earlier yesterday that "English-style" riots would erupt on the streets following calls on a Facebook site to incite looting and violence. Around eight rowing teenagers were swiftly reprimanded by gardai in Temple Bar.

Drunken

Dublin Fire Brigade crews picked up injured teenagers -- who had fallen over in a drunken state -- from hotspots across the city centre.

A brigade spokesperson told the Herald that crews attended up to seven teenagers -- mostly girls -- and one boy had sustained minor head wounds outside one club.

Vomit, bottles and empty beer cans left a grim appearance on the city's streets, while girls sat outside trying to sober up.

Gardai kept an eye outside each club and said there were no incidents to report last night.

hnews@herald.ie