The Daily Shift’s Jessica Thompson reports on the power social media had on one house party in Cavan.

CAVAN has been well and truly put on the map after one teenager’s Facebook event went viral and resulted in over 400 people turning up to a house party in Lavey last night, July 6.

It started out small. The parents are away. The house is empty. Few naggins? Be grand.

Not so.

Initially the teenager, rumoured to be named Gavin Clarke, invited a small group of friends to his house, via a Facebook event page. But one must never underestimate the power of social media and how it can cause even the smallest thing to escalate out of control. One minute there’s a small party planned, and the next, there’s a hashtag on Twitter.

Word got out, of course, and #ProjectXCavan took over the country with thousands of people using the hashtag:

Over 1500 people posted on a now-deleted Facebook event page. Posts on the Facebook page revealed plans to wreck the teen’s house, causing him to delete the event. A new event, however, was set up in it’s place, promising a night filled with chaos, destruction, and other shenanigans. The event was apparently advertised on iRadio, and buses were hired from all over Ireland for this event.

Hundreds of people turned up to the party, which was named ‘Project X Cavan’ after the film Project X which saw three teenagers plan a house party in an attempt to increase their popularity.

Fortunately for Gavin Clarke (but unfortunately for those who travelled on buses from all over the country) the Gardai got wind of the event and managed to notify the teen’s parents, and set up a blockade around the house, saving it from being demolished. The party then moved to Lavey’s GAA pitch.

Commenting on the party, Garda Inspector Aidan Farrelly told Joe.ie:

“Several busloads of people turned up and we asked them to disperse. There were a few hundred at least.” “This young man made the invitation to his circle of friends but it went crazy. At least he had the good sense to call us when he felt things were getting out of hand.”

The event is still a popular topic on Facebook and Twitter. Even Wikipedia has a newly added section on it’s Project X page – now that’s recognition.

Gardai have confirmed that, despite a large number of people turning up in cars and buses, no arrests were made, and no serious damage was done. At least the midlands got some attention though!

By Jessica Thompson

*Lead image and meme courtesy of Project X Cavan Facebook page.