Drink-fuelled menace of other years left behind

IT took around 20 minutes before this reporter could spot a can of beer.

It was a single can of beer among a small group of young teenagers opposite College Green.

It was around 1.45pm and the final floats of 2010 Paddy’s Day parade were snaking their way past.

Walking from St Stephen’s Green down Grafton Street to College Green, the midday atmosphere differed from most previous years. It lacked the air of menace of past Paddy’s Day afternoons, when groups of drunk and threatening adolescents marred celebrations.

It wasn’t that there weren’t any adolescents around; they were all over the place, but there was no sense of obvious drunkenness. A heavy Garda presence kept a close eye.

The first sign of potentially reckless behaviour were two young men sitting at the top of the Daniel O’Connell statue on O’Connell Street. Some 60ft to 70ft up, they had a long way to fall.

There were pockets of gardaí positioned at intervals along the street.

Outside McDonald’s, at the upper end of the street, there was something developing. There were large crowds gathered outside, monitored by gardaí in standard uniform and others in public order uniform. Two police vans were parked nearby.

There was a gang of black youths roaring and chanting and waving their arms and attracting attention.

Some local Dub teens were looking on and ringing friends to come over. A definite atmosphere was building.

While the crowd weren’t posing an immediate threat, gardaí decided to nip it in the bud.

The crowd were moved on and all was calm. Gardaí then moved the same crowd a second time and then a third.

There was no reaction from the crowd and gardaí were low-key.

Heading to Temple Bar, the main sight was a sea of green hats and good natured tourists and, again, a Garda presence.

Outside the Central Bank, a single garda went over to a gang of dodgy looking guys. He had a look for any cans, had a brief laugh with one of youths and left.

The atmosphere was still good at Grafton Street, with many families out.

There were queues to get into St Stephen’s Green, which, like previous years, had gardaí and park constables at the entrance checking for alcohol in baggage.

Inside, families and youths were enjoying the day. Gardaí and constables walked around.

Outside the green, I saw three cans of beer being drunk. A total of six cans of beer in two hours. No obvious signs of public drunkenness.

Although a long night lay ahead – and things were getting a bit messy by 6pm – that’s not bad.