People look to brighter days ahead despite protests and warnings of fourth wave 

People on the streets of Cork City are optimistic the worst of the lockdown may soon be over

Mike Kirby and Niamh O'Sullivan, both teachers, said getting back into the classroom, along with a vaccine rollout, has given them hope that we now have a path out of the pandemic. Picture: Denis Boyle

Warnings not to gather this Easter weekend have been made by public health officials, politicians and gardaí, who say that breaking lockdown now could result in a fourth wave of the virus.

Gardaí have responded to multiple outdoor social gatherings across Cork City over the last 24 hours in what the Lord Mayor of Cork Joe Kavanagh described as "bedlam".