Two fairly novel terms, 'doughnuts' and 'tombstoning' cropped up at last week's meeting of the Fermanagh District Policing Partnership, in the Townhall, Enniskillen.
Irvinestown member, Mannix Magee, referring to 'doughnuts', where a motorist jags the handbrake and accelerates, making the vehicle go round and round in tight circles, asked Chief Inspector Alywin Barton if there had been anyone prosecuted within the past 12 months for this type of offence.
Mr Barton told him he was unable to filter out that offence from careless and dangerous driving offences of which there were 850 detections for the year, April 1st, 2006 to March 31st this year. However, he described those that would indulge in 'doughnuts' as idiots, incompetent and unable to drive properly.
He challenged this group of people to register for the advanced motoring, Roadwise scheme.
Later in the meeting, Councillor Gerry Gallagher said he had been asked by a frequent visitor to the county to articulate their view of 'appalling behaviour' by young people in Enniskillen in June this year at the start of the Enniskillen 10K.
This is what they saw: 'Large numbers of young people, many of them under-age, commandeered the picnic tables along the jetties and proceeded to become inebriated. Their behaviour degenerated from boisterous to loutish, confrontational and arrogant.
'As the afternoon progressed, they ran across the boats moored along the jetties and used them as diving platforms. Later in the afternoon, the footbridge was adopted as a diving platform, with the young girls offering 'favours' to the young men jumping off the bridge in their underwear'.
Chief Inspector Barton said he was disappointed to hear about this anti-social behaviour. He revealed that he had asked some of his officers to contact the manager of the Forum and for them to explore ways of supporting Fermanagh District Council to prevent a recurrence.
Mr Barton went on: "I have a further concern in relation to activity which I believe is called, 'tombstoning', or falling off bridges into the river. This is a practice that happens occasionally on the Erneside footbridge.
"It is highly dangerous and I appeal to all those engaging in it to stop."
