Controversy over "outrageous behaviour" at a Dublin bar at the weekend is a distraction from how the country is handling the Covid-19 situation, according to a medical expert.
It comes as clips from a brunch event at Berlin D2 went viral, showing people flouting social distancing, passing shots around and a barman pouring drinks into people's mouths.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College Tomás Ryan says the outrage over the event is just a distraction: “What happened in Berlin bar and what is happening in social gatherings around the country, obviously it’s worrying but I think it’s very much a distraction.
It’s a distraction from the major issues of how we’re handling the country. You’re always going to get people who are misbehaving, but the situation we should be implementing needs to be robust to that, and currently it’s not.
“It’s a distraction from the major issues of how we’re handling the country. You’re always going to get people who are misbehaving, but the situation we should be implementing needs to be robust to that, and currently it’s not.”
His comments come as former TD Noel Rock retweeted a video from the "Baked Brunch" event at Berlin D2 and called for the bar to be shut down after the display of "outrageous behaviour".
The former Fine Gael TD said the behaviour needs to be punished: "I think they have to be closed. I am not sure for what duration but I think a serious punishment has to be put against them.
"Otherwise you know what will happen, other bars will start bending the rules here, will start adding a half and hour to their closing time."
Mr Rock said the risk of not punishing the bar was the potential for others to start playing copycat.
Owner 'appalled'
Restaurateur Jay Bourke said he was “appalled, very unhappy and embarrassed” at the video footage which emerged online over the weekend which showed serious breaches in social distancing guidelines at his premises.
Mr Bourke said he had been in West Cork when the incident happened on Saturday at the Berlin Bar, in Dublin’s Dame Lane.
He had returned to spend Sunday meeting with the gardaí and his staff at the venue, watching CCTV footage and discussing the event with his security staff.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland he said that having viewed hours of footage, the 20 second clip on social media did not give the complete picture.
It had been unfortunate that the bar man had jumped on the bar, but otherwise the event was “pretty well controlled.”
Mr Bourke said he was not excusing what had happened, “it was just a mad moment.” He was now trying “to pick up the pieces.”
When asked about the images of people dancing, he said that the guidelines do not mention dancing or “jumping around from table to table.”
'Naughty' barman
The bar man should not have done what he did, he said. “He was not doing what he should. He was naughty. He’s young and he got excited. It was a moment of exuberance.
“This was an aberration rather than a normal occurrence. Young people need to have fun, our job is to provide it.”
Mr Bourke said he regretted putting on the brunch event as he was now caught up in “a maelstrom” and his staff was receiving death threats. It had been a very professionally run event.
The restaurateur said that he did not think sector representatives should decree the fate of his business on the basis of a 20 second clip and he was “a bit annoyed” by their response. “I understand Covid, I’ve had it, it’s not fun, I wouldn’t want anyone to get it.
“I’m extremely unhappy about this, that I’ve been hung out to dry.”
Social media was not judge and jury, he said. Mr Bourke said he was not worried about his licence as he did not think he had broken the law.
The Licenced Vintners Association has called for a thorough investigation into the incident, while acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn has criticised people for socialising “recklessly".
