Gardaí investigate suspected drug deaths after concert

THREE SUSPECTED drug-related deaths and nine stabbing incidents were under investigation last night after a concert in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

A man who took ill at the concert on Saturday night later died at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown.

Another concert-goer from Co Laois died some hours after leaving the venue after falling ill in Ronanstown, west Dublin.

Gardaí are investigating if drugs were a factor in both deaths. The man who fell ill at the concert had not been identified last night.

Gardaí are trying to establish if a man in his 20s found dead in a pub close to his home in Co Meath in the early hours of yesterday morning from an apparent drugs overdose had been at the concert.

Weapons such as knives and hammers were seized from some of those trying to get into the outdoor venue in the park, where Swedish House Mafia were headlining a dance festival.

Of the nine people stabbed inside the venue, two remained in hospital last night. One had sustained stab wounds to his back, the other man has a punctured lung.

A 23-year-old suspect from the Clondalkin area of Dublin was arrested by an off-duty garda at the concert and is suspected of having carried out a number of the stabbings, though not all.

There were more than 30 arrests for knife attacks, public order offences, drug possession and drug dealing. Many concert-goers brought cans and bottles of alcohol with them to the venue and when it emerged they could not bring them into the concert, as is the case at some festivals, large quantities of alcohol were consumed quickly throughout the park, leading to some of the disorder.

Drunk revellers ran out on to the roadway on Chesterfield Avenue in the park, forcing motorists to stop. A number of fights broke out on the avenue, with some people having their clothes ripped off.

As early as 5.30pm some families leaving Dublin Zoo, which is in the park, decided to remain in the zoo for safety reasons until the crowd thinned out.

Some concert-goers were robbed of their tickets and personal effects at knife-point. Security, both private and Garda, was stepped up last night for a concert featuring Snow Patrol.