THE LORD Mayor of Dublin has hit out at what he sees an apparent disregard of Ireland’s social distancing guidelines across the capital.
Speaking as fears increase that many are starting to flout official advice, Tom Brabazon claimed to have witnessed, firsthand, a “party fever” descend across many quarters of the city.
According to Mr Brabazon, he spotted several clandestine garden parties in Dublin over the weekend.
He also suggested that an over-reliance on alcohol was leading some to breach the social distancing etiquette requiring individuals to remain two metres away from each other at all times.
“What I saw were people openly partying in gardens very close to each other not social distancing,” the Lord Major said.
“There was too many people in the gardens that I saw and they were all very openly consuming alcohol, which is fine in itself.
“But, after a few hours, social distancing may slip to the rear of their consciousness.
“I don’t know whether it’s the good weather or what it is but there was party fever about last night.
“On this particular street, I know a lot of people and some of them would be [in the] 70+ age group and some would be friends of mines — They’d be treasured friends and I really value their friendship.
“I just felt that people were taking the lives of those friends with a pinch of salt.”
Mr Brabazon’s comment come just a few days after Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan revealed that data gleaned from the Irish National Seismic Network had highlighted an increase in the amount of traffic on the road.
