Councillors ‘frustrated’ at silence from PHA after deaths at festival

Belfast City councillors have expressed frustration at what have they said is a lack of information from the Public Health Agency (PHA) following the deaths of two people who died after attending the Emerge dance music festival in Belfast at the weekend.

Mia Keevan, 17, from County Tipperary became unwell at the event and died shortly afterwards in hospital.

In a separate incident, 24-year-old Trae Keenan, from County Down, died in rented accommodation in the city centre a few hours after the event ended.

Two other people remain in hospital after attending the dance festival.

Councillors met senior council officials earlier at Belfast City Council.

The meeting comes after Belfast City Council officers met the organisers of Emerge and other key stakeholders on Wednesday for a “de-brief”.

Alliance Party councillor, Micky Murray, who asked for the meeting, told BBC’s Talkback programme that it is “incredibly disappointing” that the PHA has not come made themselves available to discuss recent events.

Murray said this has allowed “that narrative to be controlled by social media” and speculation over the recent deaths of two festival goers last week.

He added that it has also allowed for conversations on public safety at events which he is “onboard with”.

He added that health and safety is important, especially as other large festivals and events take place across Belfast.

Green Party councillor Brian Smyth echoed Murray’s views and said the lack of communication from the PHA has “fuelled online speculation and created a vacuum” on how safe events are and what is being done to keep people safe.

Smyth said councillors have asked that senior officials approach the PHA straight away and seek clarity.

“This comes in light of information released by the Electric Picnic festival in the Republic for people to be aware of high potency MDMA that is in circulation,” Smyth added.

Councillors have told the BBC News NI that “questions need to be answered”.

Emerge music festival is the biggest dance music event in Northern Ireland.

It usually takes place over the August bank holiday weekend at Boucher Playing Fields in south Belfast and attracts crowds of about 40,000 dance music fans each day.

This year the festival was headlined by Fatboy Slim on Saturday and Bicep on Sunday, while Sammy Virji, Fjaak, Sonny Fodera and Danny Howard were also on the line up.

Shine productions, which organised the festival, has been approached for comment.

Mia was visiting Belfast from Carrick-on-Suir to attend the event.

Investigations are still continuing into what caused her death.

Belfast district commander Supt Allister Hagan said: “During the event it was reported that a 17-year-old girl had become unwell. Sadly, she subsequently died in hospital.”

Mr Keenan also attended the festival and took unwell and died after he returned to his rented accommodation in Belfast.

He worked as a chef and had a four-month-old son.

The Irish News reported Mr Keenan had previously suffered from heart complications and asthma.

The family told the newspaper he had suffered a panic attack and his death was not linked to drugs.

Police are still investigating both deaths and said a number of arrests were made over the weekend.

Supt Hagan said several organisations – including the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council were involved with making sure the festival passed off safely.

He said officers made seven arrests over the weekend and issued three fixed penalty notices, one caution and nine community resolution notices.

He said offences included disorderly behaviour, drink-driving, assault on police and possession of controlled drugs.