‘Fraying’ compliance with Covid-19 restrictions evident in traffic data

Compliance with the Covid-19 public health restrictions is “fraying” among some members of the public, the chairman of the Policing Authority has said.

Bob Collins said the majority of people are sticking to the guidelines, but there are indications of slippages occurring. He based this statement not only off conversations with community workers, but also the increase in the number of fixed penalty notices issued, traffic data, and movement data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The Policing Authority’s latest report on the performance of An Garda Síochána during Covid-19 shows there had been 13,019 fines issued for breaches of regulations, as of March 11th, an increase of 7,235 since the last report to February 11th.

These data points suggest a “weariness” has set in and that there has been a “slight erosion of the goodwill” that had existed between the gardaí and members of the public previously, Mr Collins went on.

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“That is not without consequence and that is something we will be looking very closely at,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland radio programme.

Gardaí often find themselves in difficult circumstances and uncontrolled environments when enforcing Covid-19 regulations, he said.

Very few of the 13,000 fixed penalty notices are likely to have been issued to anti-lockdown protestors, he said. Asked if this could be disillusioning for some who feel protests are policed more leniently than individual and family activities, Mr Collins said most reasonable people saw the Grafton Street protests on February 27th as an “outrageous assault” on garda members doing their job.

Gardaí were trying to “contain” an unlawful demonstration that erupted into violence in Dublin’s city centre, he said.

“I think people are apprehensive when they see things like house parties and gatherings in dwellings are happening and they would be really concerned if they were happening with impunity,” he said.

Meanwhile, An Garda Síochána is urging the public to refrain from making non-essential journeys into Dublin’s city centre today. A major policing operation commenced in Dublin this morning in an attempt to manage anti-lockdown protests planned for St Patrick’s Day.

Former Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy said he believes any protests taking place on Wednesday will involve “very small numbers” which An Garda Síochána will be “well capable of policing”. He said plans to prevent public disorder on St Patrick’s Day were established years ago and these have been very effective in protecting Dublin City and its inhabitants.

Speaking on Newstalk’s Breakfast programme, Mr Leahy said gardaí have been “very proactive” and have been stationed around the city since early this morning. He said he suspects it will be “difficult to get into the city without a legitimate excuse”.

“Historically, it’s a challenging day for policing anyway, but I do think that they will have enough resources out,” he said.

People need to know that throwing fireworks will result in a charge under the Explosive Substances Act, he said in reference to one incident that occurred during the February anti-lockdown protest. A person’s capacity to travel could be affected by having the “very serious charge” on his or her record, he said.