The mayor of Killarney, Cllr Brendan Cronin has condemned night time scenes which appeared on social media in town centre Killarney on Saturday saying they are disgraceful. He has called on gardaí to step up their efforts and is calling a meeting of senior town management including gardaí, the Chamber of Commerce, and council management.
Boisterous scenes involving a crowd of young adults, believed to be mainly Irish tourists drinking and singing on the street and not observing social distance were captured on video on Main Street.
Some men are seen jumping on the top of a telephone box housing the town centre defibrillator in the video shot.
Crazy irresponsible scenes in Killarney last night.
The government on about giving extra powers to Gardaí to break up house parties, this is the Main Street in Killarney, where were they ?? https://t.co/F0TR4nEDTv— Jackie Healy-Rae (@Jackie_HealyRae) August 30, 2020
Partying adults men and women , are seen drinking on both sides of the street on Main Street cheering at passing cars from crowded footpaths .
At one point in the widely shared video one man strips to his underpants as the audience cheers.
A second video has also emerged this time of a scene near a bar and former nightclub in the College Street area of Killarney where numbers of persons, male and female appear to be engaged in a drunken fracas and gardaí arrive on the scene.
Last night’s widely shared material is the latest such footage in recent weeks of crowded and unruly street scenes in Killarney which has shocked locals . Dozens of young adults are crowding outside pubs and in the vicinity of popular premises not observing any kind of social distance.
The mayor, Cllr Brendan Cronin, this morning described such scenes as disgraceful and has asked gardaí to take a firmer approach .
“In a time when we cannot go to watch a football match, when weddings are being postponed along with other family occasions being put on hold, the behaviour seen in our town last night was nothing short of showing two fingers to all those who have put in huge time and effort to make Killarney safe,” Mayor of Killarney Cllr Cronin said.
As a collective group, the public and business owners in the town had all done tremendous work to ensure that the number of new cases remains as low as possible in our town and county by putting restrictions before personal preferences. Business owners and staff have gone above and beyond to protect customers and visitors to Killarney, he said.
Cllr Cronin said he sympathises with Killarney first responders voluntary group for the disrespect shown to the community defibrillator on Main Street.
“Those that decided to use the defibrillator box as their 'stage' last night need to publicly apologise for this lack of respect shown.
"I am calling on An Garda Siochana to step up their efforts to ensure that a similar large gathering like this does not happen again,” he said in a statement this morning.
Cllr Cronin has called a meeting of the town’s Garda Superintendent, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism and the Killarney town manager to address recent events in our town.
Meanwhile gardaí in Killarney were responding to the unexplained death of a man in outskirts of town and dealing with a fatal traffic accident in south Kerry on Saturday night, in what was a busy weekend with large numbers socialising, the press office of An Garda Síochána said in a statement..
It was aware of video material circulating but cannot comment on this, it said.
“An Garda Síochána is aware of video circulating on social media highlighting the activities of a crowd gathered on a street in Killarney last night, Saturday 29 August 2020.
"An Garda Síochána does not comment on an extract of audio/ video footage, the timeline and context of which cannot be determined,” the statement said.
Gardai had resources on patrol in the Killarney District with local gardaí reporting a large numbers of persons socialising in Killarney over the evening, the spokesman said.
“An Garda Síochána in Killarney were involved in the ongoing investigation of a Fatal Road Traffic Collision and responded to a number of further incidents including the serious investigation into the unexplained death of a male,” it continued.
Social Distancing and other similar Public Health Guidelines are not Penal Provisions under the Health Act 1947, the statement also said.
“An Garda Síochána continues to respond to reports of gatherings and engage with communities with a view to implementing the guidelines issued by the Government and HSE in order to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on our community as a whole.
"In supporting the Covid-19 public health guidelines, An Garda Síochána, when responding to incidents, has adopted a graduated policing response based on its tradition of policing by consent. This response is based on Garda members engage, educate, encourage and, as a last resort, enforce.
"The Covid-19 Pandemic remains a public health crisis and An Garda Síochána continues to remind all citizens, of their personal responsibility, to comply with Public Health Guidelines and Regulations in order to continue to save lives,” the statement from the Garda Press Office said.
