An emergency meeting has taken place in Galway after large crowds gathered in the city last night with colleges returning for a new semester.
Authorities have now agreed to work together to clamp down on large gatherings of young people in the city, home to upwards of 30,000 students.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting between Galway City Council, gardaí, NUI Galway and students, the group described crowds gathered last night as completely unacceptable.
It said it would work to ensure a repeat of last night's events was prevented, and added it would meet again later in the week if needed.
I’m sure the army could assist certainly the gardaí in Galway city. Look at the end of the day, in excess of 30,000 third level students here, and we have to have a coordinated approach.
Meanwhile, local Fianna Fáil Senator Ollie Crowe has said he believes the army should be deployed to help gardaí ensure Covid-19 guidelines are followed.
“Gardaí in Galway here particularly need additional resources. As I said, they’re under enormous pressure, they’ve a huge workload with limited resources,” he said.
“In terms of communication or in terms of planning, I’m sure the army could assist certainly the gardaí in Galway city. Look at the end of the day, in excess of 30,000 third level students here, and we have to have a coordinated approach.”
Viral
It comes as footage of hundreds of people gathering in Galway city went viral amid rising Covid-19 cases in the county, with hundreds of people gathered in the Shop Street and Spanish Arch areas to socialise.
Galway is one of the counties being closely monitored by NPHET with a decision on whether it will be moved to Level Three restrictions likely to be made by the end of the week.
Alongside footage from the gathering last night, Mr Crowe wrote: "Have sympathy for those entering college for first time during Covid but these scenes are simply unacceptable, particularly with recent growth in Galway cases. Have contacted Millstreet Gardai & written to NUIG President though I fear damage may be done."
Have sympathy for those entering college for first time during Covid but these scenes are simply unacceptable, particularly with recent growth in Galway cases. Have contacted Millstreet Gardai & written to NUIG President though I fear damage may be done. pic.twitter.com/IASFtk6Eqr
— Ollie Crowe (@olliecrowe_ie) September 28, 2020
Local Fine Gael Councillor Eddie Hoare said numbers will "inevitably rise", adding that he expects Level Three restrictions to be introduced in Galway before the end of the week.
Spanish Arch, Galway tonight. Numbers will inevitability continue to rise. I’d expect Level 3 restriction before the end of the week.... pic.twitter.com/cBLUoJOfj9
— Cllr. Eddie Hoare (@EddieHoareFG) September 28, 2020
In a statement issued to BreakingNews.ie, a Garda spokesperson said: "Gardaí attended the scene of a gathering of people that occurred in the Galway city area on 28/09/2020 at approximately 10pm. The crowd was dispersed without incident and Gardaí advised people present of the relevant health guidelines in place.
"Gardaí are not investigating breaches of Public Health Regulations by those in attendance."
The spokesperson added: "There are no penal regulations in respect of social distancing, wearing of masks in public area. An Garda Síochána has no statutory powers under ‘Covid Regulations’ to prevent these gatherings taking place.
"In respect of regulations which are not declared to be Penal Regulations under the Health Act 1947 as amended, An Garda Síochána adopt the approach of the three E’s which will see Gardaí engage, educate and encourage, only."
Expulsion
Meanwhile, NUI Galway has warned students that they could face expulsion for breaching public health guidelines and has labelled the crowds of young people gathered at Spanish Arch as "deplorable".
The university said that while the vast majority of students are doing their utmost to stay safe, they will not hesitate in dealing with any breaches of public health guidelines in line with the student code of conduct, with penalties including explusion.
NUIG Students' Union president, Padraic Toomey said the behaviour was unacceptable.
Mr Toomey said: "You can go too far in anything, and we need to show that and show this as a message of, 'you can't do this again'. It's not safe for anyone and we don't want the few tarnishing the names of the rest [NUI Galway students]. We have to work together to point out when something is wrong."
The news comes after acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said he was keeping a close eye on Cork and Galway.
Dr Glynn said one in five cases in Cork in the last two weeks were linked to pubs and restaurants while a large cluster in Galway has been traced back to a house party.
He said: "Unfortunately we're seeing particularly fast increasing incidence [of Covid-19 infection] in a number of counties. I want to highlight Cork and Galway, which we've been doing now for about a week, but also Monaghan and Roscommon, because their overall population sizes are lower, their incidences can rise very quickly with a relatively small number of cases but that said, they do stand out for the speed of which the situation there is deteriorating."
