Wes disco goes on despite need for 'wet room'

The strictly no-alcohol disco will not close its doors after reports that shocked parents are being phoned to pick-up their inebriated children.

Weekend reports highlighted how some youngsters are falling around the place and getting sick at the Donnybrook rugby venue, but organisers defended the medical room, saying it proved its no-alcohol rule is effective and that it is a safe place to monitor disco-goers until they are collected by their parents.

"We have always had a first-aid room for the event, and the vast majority of cases it caters for are blistered heels from stiletto shoes, asthma victims who forgot inhalers and the odd bump and bruise," events organiser Donie Bolger told the Herald.

"In around 8 or 9pc of cases it is kids who have turned up drunk and are not admitted to the disco but are brought to the medical room until their parents come and bring them safely home.

DETECTED

"We ask all the kids questions, and search their bags and smell their drinks, and if any of them have been drinking they are detected, assessed and their parents called.

"Teenagers will always test the ramparts, and you might have the influence of a 'leader of the pack' the odd time, but that's what growing up is all about," he added.

Mr Bolger said the organisers welcome criticism because it helps iron out any issues.

"Some kids see the Wes disco as a bit of a right of passage, and we won't stop having the discos," he said.

"We run it well and we welcome criticism, and we think at this stage we have ironed out most of the kinks."

On the topic of scantily-clad youngsters with boob-tubes and micro-minis attending the disco, Mr Bolger said they can't act as fashion police.

"It's what kids are wearing these days. It's the fashion for a lot of them," he said.

"We run a tight ship here, and will continue to do so in the future."

"But we will always listen to people's concerns and if there is any way to improve things we will always try," he added.

cfeehan@herald.ie