Gang of youths smash 14 Dart train windows - Independent

[Rashers]

http://www.independent.ie/incoming/g...-29417981.html

A group of youths smashed 14 windows on a Dart carriage on Friday night as the train was preparing to leave Howth.
An Irish Rail spokesman confirmed that the incident happened as the 6.45pm Dart was due to leave the Howth terminus heading for Bray.
The driver was alerted and took the train out of service at Howth Junction where the passengers were transferred to another train to continue their journey. Gardai and private security were called to the scene but the youths had fled.
Last night, gardai were examining CCTV from the scene and from the train itself in a bid to identify the youths.
No one was injured and the train was taken out of commission to repair the damage.
It was the latest in a series of violent anti-social incidents involving gangs of youths in both Howth and Portmarnock on Dublin’s north side.
Gangs of teenagers, openly drinking alcohol, descended onto Portmarnock beach for a rave last month which was advertised online and the event quickly turned to chaos and violence.
There were ugly scenes when gangs of youths began throwing bottles and other objects at each other on the beach as the disturbance developed into a full scale riot which had to be brought under control by gardai.
The violence erupted as parents with young children were sitting on the beach enjoying the fine weather.
Days later, rampaging youths also caused major disturbances in the fishing village of Howth.
The gardai are now monitoring social media sites like Facebook in an effort to crack down on anti-social behaviour.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter has confirmed that Operation Irene has been put in place.
“This is a targeted operation to combat underage alcohol consumption and consumption of alcohol in public spaces throughout the Dublin metropolitan region,” he said.