Dozen arrests in Cork city for intoxicated driving over bank holiday weekend

AT LEAST a dozen people have been arrested for driving while intoxicated in Cork city over the June bank holiday weekend.

Between 7am on Thursday and yesterday evening, more than 160 people were arrested nationally for driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants, with at least a dozen people arrested for the offence in Cork city, a garda inspector has said.

Speaking at a garda checkpoint on the North Link Road on Monday afternoon, Garda Inspector Gillian Synnott of the Cork City Division Roads Policing Unit told The Echo she has responsibility for roads policing, major emergency management, and major events in the city.

“We’ve a high-visibility checkpoint here, checking drivers, making sure that people are abiding by the rules regarding what we would call lifesaver offences — wearing seatbelts, not being on mobile phones, and not driving while under the influence of any sort of intoxicant,” she said.

Inspector Synnott said one vehicle was impounded at the North Link checkpoint when its driver was found to have no insurance.

Compliance

She said gardaí had seen a high compliance rate at the checkpoint, something which indicated to her that the message of increased roads policing was getting out to the public.

“Once we’re out and about, if you take a risk as regards driving under the influence of an intoxicant, you will be caught, because we are out there, we’re out in full force, we’re out on patrol, and we are monitoring everywhere,” she said.

Insp Synnott noted that An Garda Síochána measures a bank holiday weekend from 7am on the Thursday before the weekend to 7am on the Tuesday afterward, so the figures quoted were accurate to Monday evening.

“We’re just trying to get the message out there: Drive safe; slow down; never, ever drink and drive or drive under the influence of intoxicants,” she said. 

“If you have been drinking the night before, don’t take the chance, it’s not worth the risk.

“The message is simple — if you are going to take that risk, you will be caught.”

So far this year, 71 people have died on the roads in Ireland, which marks an increase of 15 deaths over the same period last year.

Last year had the most deaths, 185, in nearly a decade, according to figures published by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), with an increase of 29 people dying on the roads that year compared to 2022, when 155 people died.

Road fatalities fell during the pandemic, with 136 deaths in 2021 and 146 in 2020.

Last month, RSA chief executive Sam Waide told the Oireachtas committee on transport that there was an average of 15 deaths per month in 2023, whereas the average figure was 19 per month in the early part of this year.

Last month, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris announced that under a new directive, all uniformed gardaí will have to carry out “high-visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes’ duration in each tour of duty”.

Mr Harris has said that garda supervisors will “ensure compliance” by frontline gardaí with the directive, except when they are responding to emergencies.