FOOTAGE OF people in a busy Dublin bar failing to comply with public health guidance for stopping the spread of Covid-19 has sparked outrage online.
A video, published on Twitter, shows a crowd of people surrounding a bar while a masked bartender proceeds to pour shots of alcohol into their open mouths, one at a time, in a clear flouting of social distancing advice.
According to RTE, the incident took place in Berlin D2 on Dublin’s Dame Lane.
Footage has emerged on social media of people failing to comply with public health guidance over Covid-19 at a bar in Dublin. | https://t.co/CtEjGwqHnC pic.twitter.com/1OJcpbGPpQ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 16, 2020
The footage has been widely condemned online with Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly saying people were "rightly sickened" by the incident.
“The vast majority of Irish people have sacrificed a huge amount to help suppress this virus,” he wrote on Twitter.
“They’ve shown huge solidarity. People are rightly sickened by these scenes. The reckless actions of a small few can have huge repercussions on everyone else.”
The vast majority of Irish people have sacrificed a huge amount to help suppress this virus. They’ve shown huge solidarity. People are rightly sickened by these scenes. The reckless actions of a small few can have huge repercussions on everyone else. https://t.co/BNQsjDk3m8
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) August 16, 2020
Donnelly’s sentiments were echoed by the Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris who described the footage as a "right kick in the gut" to those who sacrificed so much during the pandemic.
"A right kick in the gut & middle finger to everyone in our country who has worked so hard & sacrificed so much, to everyone who has lost a loved one or been sick with #Covid19, to every frontline worker and to every responsible business owner who have suffered so much. Shameful".
Róisín Connaughton, who worked on the hospital frontline at the height of the pandemic expressed shock and anger at the footage, which she branded a "kick in the face" to anyone who lost someone to coronavirus.
"During easter weekend, I pronounced more people dead in 1 shift than I had in a year," she wrote.
“It honestly haunts me, and seeing people die alone is something that will disturb me years. This people is a kick in the face to everyone who lost a loved one to #Covid19"
There are growing calls for Gardai to launch an investigation into the origins of the footage.
If proven to be in breach of Covid-19 guidelines, the bar could face severe sanctions.
