Gardaí remind public that Covid doesn’t take a break for house parties and gatherings
Gardaí are continuing to find people gathering in groups at house parties and social gatherings, and are reminding the public that Covid does not take a break in those situations.
Gardaí say that these are not just breaches of regulations, but are a risk to the individuals involved, their families and loved ones, and continue to put everybody’s health and the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic at risk.
Recent surveys have shown that the majority of people believe that they are doing the right thing, but that the level of casual contacts remains high.
An Garda Síochána will be continuing nationwide checkpoints and high visibility patrols at public amenities, parks and beauty spots across the country this weekend in support of public health regulations.
An Garda Síochána is again advising the public of the need to plan their activities over the weekend to take into account that people are only allowed to exercise within 5km of their home. People are reminded that the 5km limit includes the distance travelled from their home to a location for exercise. In other words, you can’t travel more than 5km to a location to exercise.
The public should also be aware that if a driver is found to be in breach of the non-essential travel regulations that not only can the driver be fined, but their adult passengers as well. This is also the case for adults in groups undertaking activities such as cycling or walking – every adult in such a group can be fined.
To date, An Garda Síochána has issued approximately 13,600 Covid-19 fines across the range of all COVID-19 breaches.
As of close of business yesterday (March 11 2021), the following number of fines had been issued:
- 10,013 €100 fines for non-essential travel
- 538 €500 fines for non-essential journeys to airports/ports – the total number of €100 and €500 fines for non-essential journeys to airports/ports is 915
- 420 €500 fines for organising a house party and 1,620 €150 fines for attending a house party
- 244 fines of €80 each for not wearing a face covering
- 144 fines of €100 for non-essential travel by persons not ordinarily resident in the State