The reopening of outdoor hospitality has helped to restore the “usual character” of Dublin city in the wake of disorder seen last weekend.
There were instead reports of crowded beaches across the country as the hottest day of the year saw weekend revellers swap city centre streets for the seaside.
Gardaí have reported “lingering” public order issues related to street drinking in the city centre but said “arrests were like a normal Saturday night”, according to The Irish Times.
Last weekend saw close to 50 people arrested in the capital as its streets hosted large bank holiday gatherings and certain groups launched glass bottles and other missiles at gardaí.
This weekend senior Garda sources reported a regular level of arrests with no significant public order issues.
One source said the good weather had brought a lot of people into the city over the weekend and policing resources were at times stretched, but “arrests were like a normal Saturday night”.
An “older and more mature crowd” had returned to the city centre with the reopening of outdoor hospitality and retail, Garda members familiar with street policing in Dublin said.
“There are still troublemakers in town, but not on the scale of last weekend,” said one source. “Where possible, we sought to avoid arrests this weekend, but taking a firm approach.”
Car parks in many of the popular public activity locations in Co. Wicklow are now full.
Illegally and dangerously parked vehicles will receive FCPNs and be towed / removed.
Please think of others and safety when enjoying the good weather today. #StaySafe #SocialDistancing pic.twitter.com/T68JT17gOO
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) June 13, 2021
Meanwhile, gardaí turned drivers away from several popular Cork beaches on Sunday as crowds turned out to enjoy the good weather.
Cork was not the only location to experience crowds, with gardaí earlier tweeting that car parks in Wicklow beauty spots were full.
Traffic was heavily backed up in Cork on the way to Dock Beach in Kinsale, Sandycove, Garrylucas and Garretstown beaches throughout this afternoon and evening, according to the Irish Examiner.
While gardaí did not clear those already on the beaches, they did start to prevent anyone else from driving to and parking at them.
