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Gardaà make 714 St Patrick's Day arrests
Last updated: 18-03-05, 15:41
Gardaà arrested 714 people for various public order offences across the State over the course of St Patrick's Day.
Figures compiled today by gardaà show that officers made 407 arrests in Dublin. Of these, 250 were for public order offences while the remainder related to other incidents like vandalism, drink-driving and domestic violence.
A further 180 people were arrested for various offences in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford up to 6am this morning. However, a garda spokesman said: "We cannot confirm if all of these arrests
were related to St Patrick's Day festivities, many are just drink-related and linked to any public holiday.
Up to 40 people were detained in Cork city arising from drunk and disorderly behaviour. Another 22 people were arrested for public order offences in Waterford city, while four arrests were made in Tramore.
A further 52 revellers were arrested in Limerick, including nine after a pub brawl on Catherine Street.
Gardai are due to mount extra patrols over the weekend to monitor public order in cities and towns around the country.
Accident and Emergency departments reported a big rise in admissions: Tallaght and Beaumont hospitals in Dublin dealt with 400 patients last night.
Gardaà have appealled for information on the incident which happened at Howth Junction station between 5.55pm and 6.15pm. At least four youths are believed to have taken emergency hammers from the train and used them to smash a number of windows.
"Anyone who may have been on the Dart or at Howth Junction at the time, and may have information to assist the investigation, is asked to contact the Clontarf Community Policing Unit on 01 6664800, or any Garda Station," a Garda statement said.
In a separate incident at Bray Dart station, three people were arrested after trouble broke out when several youths tried to evade fares and two security guards were assaulted.
Iarnród �ireann spokeswoman Cliodhna Ni Fhatharta said: "We have CCTV footage of the incident and we will be handing it over to gardaà to help their investigation."
Gardaà were also called to intervene in a large-scale fight that broke out on a Dart train from Howth to Bray.
Eighteen people were arrested for public order offences in during disturbances in Belfast and Derry.
The PSNI came under attack from crowds of St Patrick's Night revellers in Maghera, Co Derry, when officers who tried to break up a mob fight in Main Street were attacked with pool balls and bottles.
A police Land Rover was damaged but no officers were injured. Vehicles were also attacked in the Waterloo Place district of Derry and one officer suffered an eye injury, thought to have been caused by glass.
A man was taken to hospital after being stabbed in a disturbance outside a bar in Co Down. The victim suffered a single stab wound to the back outside the pub in Downpatrick's Market Street, said police.
The victim's injuries are thought to be life-threatening.
Reacting to the disorder, Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle said binge drinking was one of the most urgent challenges facing European health ministers.
She urged the EU Council of Health Ministers to discuss the issue at its next meeting next month.
She said: "We're talking about a culture of drinking to get drunk, and this leads onto aggression and violence.
"There's a problem with the easy accessibility of alcohol, but also with public attitudes and with the enforcement of public order legislation.
"The effects of binge drinking exert an incalculable toll across society on emergency services, road safety and family relationships to name but a few.
"The Irish presidency did some good work on this subject last year and it must be carried on by the current EU president, Luxembourg now."
