‘They were sent packing’

Driving from Kerry to Union Hall, lying about being an essential worker and travelling to rent out a property and consume alcohol were some of reasons people were fined over the past few weeks.

Several stories came to light this week, during a Cork County Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting, about why gardaí across Cork had issued fines to people who breached Covid-19 restrictions.

The virtual JPC meeting heard about seven youths who had got into two taxis in Cork city and travelled to Kinsale where they had rented out, what is believed to be an Airbnb property. The gang were spotted by local gardaí getting out of the taxis and later exiting a shop with alcohol.

Fine Gael Councillor Kevin Murphy said a system should be in place where the Airbnb host is prosecuted while adding that taxi drivers should only be taking fares for beyond a 5km limit if it’s for an essential reason.

Chief Superintendent Con Cadogan replied: “We are following up with the taxi drivers and we will be seeking directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on that. The seven individuals involved were issued with (fines) and they were sent packing for the city out of Kinsale.”

Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin said in general people are adhering to the restrictions and that it’s very important that people abide by the rules while warning that both drivers and adult passengers can be fined if found breaking travel limits. He also spoke about two recent breaches: “A fixed charge notice was issued to a man at a checkpoint who had driven from north of Kerry to Union Hall. The car was also seized for no insurance.”

“The Roads Policing Unit stopped a car on the M8 Fermoy at 9am one morning. The driver claimed he was travelling to Dublin from Cork. He claimed he was starting work at midday and was an essential worker. He was issued with a speeding fine and allowed to continue his journey, however at about midday the same person was stopped at a checkpoint in Mitchelstown by a different garda. He told that garda a different story, that he was coming off night duty as an essential worker from Dublin. This garda wasn’t happy with the explanation and did a reg check. The original garda heard the reg check over the airwaves and the driver was issued with a fixed charge notice as it was not an essential journey.”