More Gardaí are needed to police Dublin’s beaches in hot weather, according to the Mayor of Fingal.
It comes after Garda Public Order Units were sent to Burrow Beach in north Dublin yesterday following several reports of disturbances.
Videos on social media show large groups being dispersed by Gardaí - and large amounts of litter left behind on the beach.
This morning, Fingal Mayor Brian McDonagh told Newstalk that a greater Garda presence is needed to stop anti-social behaviour on Dublin’s beaches.
'This is not out of the blue'
“This is not out of the blue,” Mr McDonagh said. “There’s been a number [of incidents] in previous years.
“[It’s] not every hot day [that] something goes wrong – but we really do need, when you have thousands of people congregating in the place, we need to try and find the Garda resources in order to take preventative action.”
He said excessive drinking appears to be a major contributing factor to repeated disturbances on the beach.
“Whatever age you are, it's perfectly normal for you to want to go down the hot day and spend the day on the beach - but what you do there is a different matter,” he said.
'Thousands' of people on beaches
Fingal County Council prohibits alcohol consumption in public places – but Mr McDonagh said the by-law is not being enforced by Gardaí.
“If you get thousands of people congregating on a beach, which is open to the public, and there's no enforcement of the basic by-laws, then you have an increased potential for young people who've had a bit too much to drink to end up fighting each other,” he said.
He said he isn’t sure whether the disturbance yesterday evening was alcohol-related – but a stronger Garda presence will prevent anti-social behaviour.
“[People] just won’t have an expectation that they're going to be able to drink a lot of cans on the beach,” he said.
“That, I think, will take the heat out of the situation.”
There has been growing concern for anti-social behaviour in Dublin following several recent incidents, including a group of young people assaulting a passenger on a Dublin Bus last Friday.
Main image: Gardaí at Burrow Beach, Co Dublin, 05/06/2023. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie
