Cork GP decries 'demoralising' street drinking scenes

It's been reported that large groups had gathered on the junction of the Grand Parade and the South Mall on Saturday evening. File Picture: Dan Linehan

A Cork GP has condemned scenes of public gatherings in Dublin and Cork city centres this weekend. 

Pictures and videos of people drinking on the street in Dublin on Saturday night, flouting Covid-19 restrictions were “demoralising” for health care workers, according to Dr Mary Favier, a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and former president of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP).

Such scenes were “demoralising for people who have spent months on the front-line” she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

Dr Favier said that complacency and fatigue had set in with regard to restrictions and people had taken their eye off the ball. 

She called on employers, staff, trade unions, student unions and organisations such as the GAA to encourage everyone to take precautions when it comes to work and congregating.

“We need peer led motivation,” she said. “I think as a society, we need to be cautious. We'll need to have a cautious approach as to how alcohol is used over the next few weeks.” 

Meanwhile, Gardaí responded to similar scenes of revelry in Cork City over the weekend. 

Large groups had gathered on South Mall in the city on Saturday evening. People were asked disperse by the Gardaí but no breaches of Covid-19 regulations were reported. 

Gardaí then conducted a number of patrols in the area over the course of the evening but no further incidents occurred. 

It is understood people had gathered to socialise after purchasing takeaway drink. 

Cork City Councillor Des Cahill said a bylaw introduced in 1997 forbids outdoor drinking in a non-licensed area. 

Speaking to Patricia Messinger on C103's Cork Today Show, Mr Cahill said it is for the Gardaí to enforce the bylaw in Cork City as it is illegal to drink in the street.

He said: "There is a bylaw introduced by Cork City in 1997 where drinking on the streets in a non-licensed area, which let me explain further, when a pub or restaurant applies for seating outside of their area, they get license to do that, well that licenses them to have alcohol in that area but not outside of it. 

"So there is a bylaw in Cork city, it is up to Gardaí to enforce it, whether in these current circumstances they are taking a different view, but there is a bylaw active in Cork City [...] since 1997." 

Mr Cahill said he understands Gardaí are trying to appeal to people's common sense due to the current Covid-19 pandemic and encourage compliance so they may address scenarios with outdoor drinking differently than previously. 

Alan Campbell, owner of the Bankers Bar on Trinity Street in Dublin, said that if pubs and other hospitality businesses do not reopen, the situation will get worse in terms of street drinking.

Mr Campell told RTÉ radio that if people were allowed to gather in a controlled environment, "they won't be going back to mad house parties".

At present The Bankers Bar is operating a limited take away service, he explained, but they have been closing early at night time to dissuade people from congregating on the street.

“We’ve been asking people to move off and told them they can’t hang around here. The problem is people moving to a different area.

“These things wouldn’t be happening if the pubs were open.”