Taoiseach issues warning after gatherings of youths in Cork city centre last night

The Taoiseach has warned that people should not drop their guard in relation to adhering to Covid-19 restrictions.

It comes following anti-social behaviour which occurred in the city centre on Saturday night involving large crowds of young people.

An Garda Síochána carried out active patrols of public spaces throughout the evening and a number of arrests were made for Public Order Incidents.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that although we cannot afford to drop our guard, that it is a “natural instinct” for young people to want to socialise.

“It’s very difficult for younger people, this is not natural for young people what they’ve been forced to do over the last three or four months.

“We were all young and the natural instinct is to get out there to meet people and so we have to balance those issues in terms of mental wellbeing, in terms of the overall wellbeing of society.

“I think the fact that young people are back playing sport and young adults are back playing sport that’s great news. That doesn’t mean we drop our guard,” he said.

He said that younger people will be vaccinated as the vaccination programme accelerates but that the correct approach was to vaccinate those most vulnerable to the virus first.

“I think the whole objective from a clinical point of view and from a public health perspective is to vaccinate those who are most at risk of getting severe illness or indeed death from the virus,” he said.

A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said that the policing of anti-social behaviour “is an ongoing priority for An Garda Síochána”.