Three arrested after gardaí break up student street party

GARDAÍ made three arrests after dozens of people gathered in College Court in the Castletroy area of Limerick city to party and set off fireworks last night.

Videos online show flares and fireworks being set off among large groups of people who gathered to drink in the estate predominantly occupied by students from the University of Limerick (UL).

Other videos also show large groups running from Garda cars who attended the scene to break up the crowds.

The videos show people singing and chanting with music being played on speakers in the background.

Limerick currently has the fourth highest incidence of Covid-19 in the country and Public Health MidWest recently issued concerns about the spread of coronavirus in housing estates in the city.

A recent outbreak of the virus in the UL community saw “more than 200 cases” since early January, with “the majority of cases recorded in the past two to three weeks,” a Public Health Midwest spokesperson said last week.

Mass testing on campus was initiated following this outbreak.

Authorities in UL are set to meet today to see if there are grounds to expel some of those involved in the street party.

In a statement on Twitter, they said they “will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who has been found to have breached public health guidelines”.

As well as three arrests, approximately 30 fines were issued for breaches of Covid19 regulations.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris told the Irish Independent the scenes were “completely unacceptable” and “a slap in the face to everyone sacrificing so much”.

“It does a real disservice to all students who abide by the rules day in and out,” he said.

Mr Harris added that he expects separate investigations to be carried out by An Garda Síochána and UL.

“Any student in breach of restrictions and regulations must and will face serious consequences,” he said.

Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell said the behaviour in College Court was “totally reprehensible”.

“Like everyone else, students have been impacted by Covid-19, but, this was entirely unsafe, destructive & disrespectful to local residents and the general public, he said.

Local Green Party councillor Seán Hartigan was at the scene earlier in the day and said a number of vehicles were towed. He said the party started at 2pm when large groups of students arrived carrying crates of beer from a local off-licence.

“There is a serious issue with students in the Castletroy area,” he said.