Covid-19 progress must be maintained, says Martin as crowds compared to 'V-Day' celebrations
Gardaí pictured dealing with large crowds on South William Street Dublin at the weekend. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
Following scenes of widespread street drinking at the weekend, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned a review at the end of June will determine whether a planned lifting of restrictions in July goes ahead.
The Taoiseach has warned that the progress of recent weeks in advancing the vaccination roll-out and abiding by public health advice needs to be maintained.
The warning comes as a senior HSE figure said the scenes looked like “V-Day, as if the virus had surrendered”.
A Government spokesman has said Mr Martin believes that the guidelines for the re-opening of outdoor hospitality next month will provide a structure for this to happen in a safe way.
The vaccination programme, Covid-19 infections and the impact on our hospitals will all be subject to a review at the end of June. Any progression to the next easing of restrictions is dependent on that progress, he said.
Mr Martin is hopeful that progress could continue and the reopening of the economy and society would be maintained in a phased and safe manner, his spokesman said.
His comments come as gardaí, public health doctors and politicians have reacted to the large gatherings in Dublin, Cork and Galway at the weekend.
They have appealed to people to continue to observe public health guidelines.
In response to a controversial tweet from the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan on Saturday in which he expressed his shock and concern at the scenes in Dublin, crowds around South William Street in Dublin were dispersed by gardaí on Sunday.
Drove into Dublin City Centre to collect someone from work at 815 PM. Absolutely shocked at scenes in South Great George’s St, Exchequer St, South William St area. Enormous crowds- like a major open air party. This is what we do not need when we have made so much progress.
— Dr Tony Holohan (@DrTonyHolohan) May 29, 2021
Large crowds were seen in Cork, where 12 people were arrested for public order offences on Saturday after gardaí dispersed crowds in the city centre, Kennedy Quay and the Grand Parade.
Dublin city saw large gatherings in the South William Street area, St Stephen's Green and Temple Bar, with gardaí dispersing crowds and making four arrests on Saturday.
Gardaí also broke up crowds that gathered close to the Spanish Arch and along the Long Walk in Galway.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has warned that local lockdowns remain an option for Government, should there be a spike in Covid-19 infections.
On Monday morning, Government Chief Whip Jack Chambers expressed concern at a recent Dublin City Council decision to close Portabello plaza saying more not less open spaces are needed.
The return of outdoor dining and outdoor seating from June should provide additional formal space for people to meet and limit the excessive congregation of people in city streets and parks, he said.
Meanwhile, Prof Sam McConkey, an infectious diseases specialist at the Royal College of Surgeons said many thousands of people did the right thing at the weekend by gathering in small numbers outdoors.
On RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Prof McConkey said the scenes witnessed in parts of Dublin city centre at the weekend was not good for controlling the spread of Covid-19.
Earlier, the mayors of Dublin, Cork and Galway all expressed concern about the crowds and urged people to take personal responsibility when they are out and about.
The HSE's Chief clinical officer warned that the gatherings could “exploit our weakest position” if large groups of unvaccinated people are coming together.
Dr Colm Henry compared the scenes to a V-Day celebration.
He said: “Younger people for the most part did their best to protect their older citizens. A huge acknowledgement is required by all of us to them… they’ve suffered from isolation and lost opportunities in life.
“But some of the scenes looked like V-Day, as if the virus had surrendered. This virus doesn’t surrender.”
“It exploits our weakest position – and our weakest position of course is those who are unvaccinated. It exploits congested gatherings, and certainly situations where there is alcohol,” he told .
“This is not V-Day… it’s a longer war.”
Statement from @DubCityCouncil ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/75FNSAcrbl
— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) May 30, 2021
But Independent councillor Mannix Flynn defended those who took part, and slammed Dublin City Council for poor management of the situation.
He said: “The event that took place was mismanaged, you have a pedestrian zone in Dublin City, created by Dublin City Council, where they created these pedestrian zones and then walked away and didn’t manage them.
“I mean this is a normal Saturday trading day and droves of young people and all sorts of people moved into this area, sat down and had picnics and very quickly became, I suppose besodden with alcohol.
“That’s the big kind of factor here, alcohol. And then it got more and more and more boisterous.
“This was being monitored all day by An Garda Siochana, and then late into the evening when it became too much to manage they moved in the public order unit, and moved people on.
He added: “I think the issue is clear and very simple. There is no management. Dublin City Council put out a tweet saying that they can’t police the city.
“We’re not asking them to police the city. We’re asking them to manage the city before the police come in and have to do their job and police it.
“Policing comes after when there’s no management.”
Covid-19 regulations remain in place across Ireland, however the country is looking forward to imminent relaxations.
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