Halloween revellers warned not to throw vapes onto bonfires after girl (7) loses an eye

Halloween revellers warned not to throw vapes onto bonfires after girl eye

Vapes and nitrous oxide canisters being thrown into bonfires in “neglected” communities in Tallaght is a "massive issue", a local councillor has said.

This comes as Ruby Grainger, seven, tragically lost her eye after walking by a fire on the green in front of her home in MacUilliam Heights, Fortunestown. Doctors believe the young girl was badly injured by battery acid from a vape shooting into her eye that was thrown into the fire.

When the Irish Mirror visited the housing estate on Thursday, multiple discarded vapes and nitrous oxide canisters could be seen on the green. These canisters are used to disperse ‘laughing gas’ and while it is banned for psychoactive properties, it can be legally sold in Ireland for catering and industrial purposes.

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Local Sinn Féin councillor Niamh Whelan has warned people not to dispose of vapes and canisters in these bonfires. She said: “There are vapes everywhere and if it's not vapes it’s nitrous oxide canisters.

"If you walk from one end to another [on that green] you will see them too, it’s an issue that’s not being taken seriously. The Tallaght Drugs and Alcohol Task Force is running an anti-vaping campaign at the end of this month because the vaping issue is so prevalent, especially among teens, even pre-teens.

"I have seen them around the area with vapes and nitrous oxide.” The local councillor said she doesn’t believe those who throw vapes into the fire are intentionally trying to hurt anyone.

However, she added: “At the same time you can’t be lighting fires on greens, the fires shouldn’t be lit.” Niamh said she isn’t surprised something like this has happened, as West Tallaght has been neglected for “a long, long time”.

She added: “That area, in particular, has massive anti-social behaviour. It’s teenagers, but it’s not being tackled. It’s really underfunded, the guards don’t have the resources to tackle it.

"It’s almost accepted that this is what happens there and it’s not fair on the good families who want to live their life, have a happy life, and let their kid walk across the green to the ice cream van without losing an eye.

“They are throwing pennies at it when it’s a massive issue and it’s only when something like this happens that there’s a bit of attention for a week or two, but in six months we will still have the same problems.”

Ciara Grainger, whose daughter Ruby tragically lost her right eye last Saturday, is warning people about the dangers of vapes- and how they need to be disposed of properly. She said: “It’s so dangerous that the vapes are being thrown on the fires, they shouldn’t even be thrown in bins. It’s a battery, you can’t dispose of that in a bin.”

Last month, it was announced that the sale of disposable vapes in Ireland will be banned. It is expected this ban could come into effect as early as the end of this year.

However, distraught mother Ciara doesn’t believe this will stop teenagers from getting their hands on them. She said: “They will still be everywhere, there was a battery from a vape outside our house yesterday and we could hear it sparking.

“Why would you even want to be using them, putting them in your mouth? People are holding them in bed, I wouldn’t even put the phone beside me in the bed.”

After the tragic accident, little Ruby will now need to get a prosthetic eye and move to a special school for visibly impaired children.

She will have to wait six weeks to heal before she is fitted for a prosthetic eye. Ciara said she is extremely worried about the long road they have ahead.

The mother added: “I don’t think it has properly hit me that the child has no eye now. For a split second her whole life changed, and mine too, when she lost her eye I lost mine.

“If I could give her mine I would. I’d give everything for her, she’s only seven, and this never should have happened to her. I can’t believe it.”

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