THE annual 'Holylands riot' has become as traditional on St Patrick's Day as green beer and shamrock.
Students and young people flock en masse to the south Belfast streets, once home to the city's affluent middle classes.
Formerly impressive homes now divided up into barely habitable houses of multiple occupancy.
With up to six students per house - many teenagers who've never left their rural homes or been away from their parents for more than a night before now - the mayhem that follows them is hardly surprising.
There were queues three deep outside every off licence and bars in the area from 11am yesterday, teenagers, already looking blearily eyed and worse for wear stocking up for the long day and night ahead.
Buckfast for breakfast seemed to be the order of the day.
But away from the humorous photographs of young people dressed in funny hats and county identifying GAA tops, drinking on sofas dragged onto the street and hangover 'walks of shame' in various states of undress, there is a much more serious side.
A number of people all aged in their teens or early 20s have already been charged with public order offences.
Should a criminal conviction follow they risk being thrown out of university, years of study to get a place down the drain.
A career changing criminal conviction to follow them around for the rest of their life.
It is unfair to lay the blame for the annual drink fuelled madness solely at the feet of the universities who to their credit have attempted to impose stricter penalties and sanctions on those who engage in anti-social behaviour.
On the streets of the Holylands yesterday were teenagers as young as 13, drunk schoolgirls, clearly intoxicated and dangerously vulnerable.
Praise to the SOS Bus NI team who battle on helping if they can.
The lure of the Holylands streets, that over the St Patrick's Day holidays resemble a scene from Lord of the Flies with the only responsible adults those in police uniform, is just too tempting.
Solving the problem is not just one for the universities, there is parental responsibility and also an onus on the landlords to also step up to the plate.
As the last few days have shown when the drinks in the wits out and there's little can be done other than to contain the mayhem and minimise the disruption to the remaining residents who don't see St Patrick's' day as an excuse to get legless.
