Updated 3.30pm
THE OWNERS OF the inflatable giant Minion which got loose in Santry noticed afterwards that some of its ropes appeared to have been cut.
George Bird, one of the co-owners of Funderland, who own the Minion, told TheJournal.ie that they were “most surprised” and taken aback by the huge worldwide coverage of the incident.
“We were lucky there was nobody hurt and no damage to anything,” he said today.
He said that when staff looked at the 30 – 40ft high Minion after it went on the run, “some of the ropes appeared to be cut that were securing it down”.
“The gardaí were there – we let them know that [about the ropes],” he said. “Some of my staff said it to them straight away.” Gardaí said that no investigation is being carried out into the incident.
No official complaint is believed to have been received by gardaí regarding the runaway character.
“I’m not sure how it got loose but I just saw it coming loose and flying across the road as we were driving,” Erin Van Londen, who took the snaps, told us yesterday.
Repairs
After being scooped up by wheelbarrow, the Minion has now gone to be repaired and have some extra straps put on.
Bird said they were very happy with the gardaí’s swift response.
They were there in seconds – they actually only passed it a few seconds prior and they saw it in its position it has been in for the last few days and they were admiring it.
The situation was calmed in 10 to 15 minutes, and involved the air being let out of the Minion. It was reported that one car had its wing-mirror knocked off by the wayward inflatable.
“Jesus, it’s unbelievable,” said Bird of the worldwide attention the story has received. “We would hope we will let people know [once] everything is sorted out and it’s back together and back up again.”
The Minion, which was bought a number of weeks ago, will be moving on to Tralee next.
[There's finally footage of the fellow - this emerged yesterday!]
Planning report
Dublin councillor Paul McCauliffe has referred the incident to Dublin City Council’s planning enforcement department.
Meanwhile, Gerry Frawley of Bounce Ireland and the Irish Inflatable Hirers Federation told TheJournal.ie that the incident could have had a more serious impact.
He said he has been raising the issue of regulation for inflatables in public spaces with the government for four years, but is yet to receive a positive response.
In a mail to Cllr McCauliffe today, the city council told him that the appropriate notice was served to the local authority about the attention to hold a funfair.
The council noted that funfairs and fairground equipment are regulated by the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Certification of Fairground Equipment) Regulations 2003.
This requires organisers of funfairs and owners of funfair equipment not to make available for use fairground equipment unless there is a valid safety certificate in place.
The inflatable character that became loose and drifted onto the Swords Road is not considered fairground equipment, it is intended as a fixed attraction. As this item is not fairground equipment there is no action that can be taken under the regulations. It is the responsibility of the owners of the piece and/or the operators of the funfair to ensure such attractions are fixed securely and do not present a hazard to members of the public or the public highway.
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