Gardai praise vintners and retailers for peaceful St Patrick’s Day
By Martina Nee
The local members of the Vintners’ Federation, as well as retailers, have been praised by the gardai for doing their part to ensure that the St Patrick’s Day celebrations were enjoyed in a peaceful and well behaved manner.
In the lead up to the day of celebration representatives from Galway gardai, the Vintner’s Federation of Ireland and retailers came together to discuss ways to ensure a reduction in the amount of drinking in public areas. An agreement was reached which ensured that off licences, or the off licence section of a retail shop, would remain closed on St Patrick’s Day until 3pm.
According to a spokesperson for Galway Garda Station this agreement was a success resulting in a “very quiet” St Patrick’s Day. He further explained: “We didn’t have the repeat of underage drinking seen in previous years and this agreement contributed to this, making the day very peaceful. There was no general drinking in the public areas, which was a big improvement for us. Very few arrests were made over the weekend, and fewer than 20 arrests were made for public order incidents on St Patrick’s Day itself.”
