Ongoing investigation to identify organizers of anti-Covid-19 restriction rally in Donegal

GARDAÍ HAS SAID that they are conducting an investigation to identify the organizers of an anti-Covid-19 restriction rally in Co Donegal this afternoon.

The rally took place in the Market Square area of ​​Letterkenny at 2 p.m., just hours after the county had been upgraded to Level 3 of the government’s plan for living with Covid-19.

Around a hundred people attended today’s rally that encouraged people to defy health regulations, according to local media.

The Donegal Daily reports that most of the attendees were not wearing masks when gathered in the square, which was addressed by several speakers.

In a statement to TheJournal.ie, gardaí said that they are not investigating violations of public health regulations by attendees, since social distancing, the use of masks in a public area and other similar guidelines are “non-criminal regulations.”

An Garda Síochána said his investigation was being carried out under the Health Act of 1947 (Section 31A – Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No 5) 2020 regulations that came into effect on September 19.

Regulation 15 states: “A person shall not organize, nor cause to be organized, a relevant event in a relevant county.”

The expectations for this are if the event is only being held outdoors and if the person takes “all reasonable steps to ensure that the event is attended or is proposed to be attended by no more than 15 people.”

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Source: Vladimir Gluten/Twitter

“By supporting Covid-19 public health guidelines and regulations, An Garda Síochána has adopted and will continue to adopt a graduated police response based on its tradition of consent policing. This has seen Gardaí engage, educate, encourage and, as a last resort, enforce, ”said a Garda spokesperson.

“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be a public health crisis and An Garda Síochána continues to call on all citizens to demonstrate their personal and social responsibility to comply with public health guidelines and regulations in order to continue saving lives” .

Earlier tonight, the Department of Health confirmed in Ireland another 248 new cases of Covid-19, 37 of them in Donegal.

Donegal recently overtook Dublin as the area with the highest case rate, with the county now with 148.2 cases per 100,000 residents.

On Friday, Acting Medical Director Dr Ronan Glynn and his Northern Ireland counterpart Dr Michael McBride specifically called on teens and people in their 20s and 30s in Co Donegal and Derry to reduce your social contacts.

Medical chiefs said they were concerned about the significant proportion of cases in young people in Donegal and Derry, and asked teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s in particular to reduce their social contacts.

Glynn said yesterday that Nphet fully understands that the restrictions may be challenging for the people of Donegal, but that the recommendation was made to protect public health and prevent further worsening of the situation there.