60 people arrested at Donegal International Rally

Stephen Maguire

A total of 60 arrests have been made as thousands of people gathered for the Donegal International Rally.

Two special court sittings have been held in Letterkenny by Judge Ciaran Liddy to cope with incidents arising out of the weekend.

More than half of these arrests were made for public order incidents.

Up to 20,000 people have converged on the rally which proves a huge money-spinner for local businesses especially those in and around Letterkenny.

The Garda air support unit backed up by additional motorbike gardaí were out and about on the streets of the town since Friday morning when the three-day event began.

However, who the majority of visitors are well-behaved, a small element has caused trouble for gardaí.

Many locals have complained of traffic gridlock in the town with some claiming to have been stuck up to an hour and a half in their cars durian g even short journeys.

The opening day of the event on Friday resulted in 18 people being arrested with ten of those resulting from public order incidents.

Other offences on Friday were for crime and six more for road traffic incidents.

A further 42 people were arrested over Saturday.

Twenty of these were for breaches of public order while 11 were for intoxicated driving.

There have been three arrests for assault incidents and a further three arrests for drugs offences.

The event officially finishes this evening but many of those who attended the event will not depart the town until tomorrow.