Gardaí in Cork will be doing everything they can to prevent a repeat of the violent protests seen in Dublin at the weekend, according to the city’s lord mayor.

More than 20 people were arrested after anti-lockdown protesters launched fireworks at Gardaí on Dublin’s Grafton Street on Saturday.

Three Gardaí were injured during the incident with one taken to hospital.

With an anti-lockdown protest due to take place in Cork next weekend, Lord Mayor Joe Kavanagh told Lunchtime Live that Gardaí will do everything they can to prevent a repeat.

“I have every confidence in the Gardaí here in Cork that they will put preparations in place to ensure there won’t be a repeat of what happened in Dublin here in Cork,” he said.

“Well, they will certainly do their best anyway.”

“I fully understand that people are at their wit’s end with these lockdowns. They are very much at their wit’s end, it had been going on for a long, long time.

“In fairness, the people of Cork have been nothing short of magnificent in terms of their resilience and in terms of by and large, abiding by the rules and regulations set down in the public health guidelines and we have got out numbers down."

Gardaí at an anti-lockdown protest in Dublin city centre, 27-02-2021. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews

He said the protests “fly in the face” of the country’s coronavirus strategy and said that if people keep following the regulations, “we’ll hopefully get out the other end as soon as possible.”

“I am not a medical expert,” he said “I’m the Lord Mayor of Cork but the medical experts are telling us we shouldn’t be gathering in large groups.

“We should be taking all the necessary measures in terms of face masks and social distancing in the interests of trying to suppress and control this virus.

“Gathering in large crowds, even out in the open, given these new variants, I would be worried and I would advise people, I suppose, to literally comply with what the medical experts are telling us to do.”