The giant inflatable minion who came loose in Santry on Monday and fell into oncoming traffic is set to make an appearance at the upcoming Rose of Tralee festival.
A spokesman for Funderland, the entertainment company who owns the Minion, said the inflatable movie character had been hospitalised and would be "put back together again" ahead of its appearance at the Rose of Tralee festival in Co Kerry next week.
The Minion, one of the popular characters from the Despicable Me film franchise, had been advertising a temporary fairground on the Swords Road when it came loose.
Escaped Minion at Omni in Santry may seem hilarious but its a dispicable breach of health & safety @DubCityCouncil pic.twitter.com/w443usabzb
— Cllr Paul McAuliffe (@PaulMcauliffe) August 3, 2015The Minion is currently at the Bounce Ireland headquarters where it will undergo full repairs in preparation for next week's festival.
The spokesman said the owners of the seven metre tall inflatable Minion later noticed the ropes securing the balloon to the ground appeared to have been cut, no doubt aiding the quick getaway of the inflatable character. A Garda investigation will not be carried out into the incident.
“We’re focusing on all the positives, that nobody was injured,” he said.
The Minion came loose from its moorings on the Swords Road on Monday during a particularly windy spell, falling into oncoming traffic and clipping the wings of a car.
Cllr Paul McAuliffe said the incident may seem humorous at first glance, but it could have caused a serious accident on what is a busy road.
He tweeted on Monday: “Escaped Minion at Omni in Santry may seem hilarious but its a despicable breach of health & safety”.
“I don’t want to sound like a killjoy, but if that had landed on a cyclist, for instance, it could have been serious,” he said.
“If you take the Minion part of it out, if this was a large inflatable weather balloon that had not been properly tethered, there would be no humour in this story at all.”
Cllr McAuliffe has referred the incident to the City Council’s planning enforcement department to investigate if the inflatable cartoon character was the subject of any planning regulation and to question operators if appropriate health and safety measures were in place.
