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Gardaí was perplexed by the government’s now-abandoned proposal to introduce new controls on the consumption of takeaway pints from pubs, according to members of the force who have spoken to The Irish Times.
A senior officer said he was “shocked” by what he saw as “an instinctive reaction” to a video of revelers on South William Street in Dublin over the weekend.
“It’s a sad day when the government is deciding it should make a big change in police strategy so far based on a video on Twitter rather than even consulting with the depot,” he said, the latter a reference to Garda headquarters. .
The video shared on Twitter showed hundreds of people gathered on South William Street and streets away from it, drinking Saturday night.
After the video went viral, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly came up with proposals to reduce the circumstances in which people could gather to drink alcohol.
The proposals brought to the Cabinet would have classified as a crime, punishable by a fine of 80 euros, that two or more people meet outdoors where one of them drinks alcohol.
However, there was resistance from the Greens and Fine Gael at the Cabinet table, and it was decided that there was not enough support for the measure to proceed.
“It was the government’s own decision to allow take out pints,” said a Garda source. “It seems quite strange that, due to a video of an incident, they decided to change the law. There is no single rule or law that is followed 100 percent of the time. “
Another agreed, saying: “The government should try to bring a little perspective rather than rush to change the laws when something explodes on Twitter. They have only created hysteria. “
Current law
Under the law, which predates the pandemic, it is illegal to drink alcohol in public, although it is rarely enforced.
Publicans are authorized by law to sell take out pints and other alcoholic beverages. Although these drinks must be consumed more than 100 meters from the place where they are purchased, failure to comply with this provision does not constitute a crime. Lack of social distancing is also not a crime.
“Essentially, the only Covid-19 law or regulation (the revelers in the Twitter video) that they were breaking was drinking alcohol in public,” said a Garda member. “If we were to move in and prosecute all the people we see drinking in public, we would lose the general public pretty quickly.
“The kind of resources you would need to mobilize a crowd of 100 or 200 to process them would be enormous; you would need hundreds of gardaí and dozens and dozens of vehicles. He’s not a broker and nobody wants that kind of surveillance in Ireland – arresting people for drinking a few pints that the law allows them to buy. “
When asked if gardaí could take a position on South William St, as crowds of revelers had frequently gathered there to drink during the pandemic and keep people gathering, Garda sources said this would be seen as a hand hard.
“So far, it’s all been about connecting with people, explaining the rules and public health advice and encouraging them to comply,” said a senior garda. “Everyone has told us, the Garda leadership, the government, the police authority, civil rights groups, that law enforcement should only be used in extreme cases.
“The fact here is that young people who met on the street and moved when asked, is not an extreme case. So it was surprising to see that kind of nuclear button thinking of the government in a video on Twitter. “
Another Garda member agreed, saying it was inevitable that legislation allowing take-out drinks would be abused occasionally and that it shouldn’t cause panic.
“We are going to have incidents like this from time to time during this pandemic. The alternative is to increase the rules and increase the application. That would be a big mistake and nobody wants that. The government and the police authority are the same people who have told us over and over again that they don’t want that. ”
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