GARDAÍ RESTRICTED ACCESS to a number of Dublin city centre streets this evening and arrested 10 people during public order incidents. 

Adhering to public health guidance, many people gathered in the city to socialise throughout the day and into the evening. In a statement tonight, gardaí said the vast majority “enjoyed the amenity of Dublin City Centre in a positive way with a very good atmosphere”.

Between 7pm and 9pm, garda public order units began to disperse crowds from Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar and South William Street.

Gardaí said that through the evening they had “encountered and engaged” with a smaller group, which they say have been “persistently involved in anti-social behaviour and public disorder”.

According to the statement, a number of gardaí came “under fire from an assault of multiple glass bottles on South Anne Street [just off Grafton Street] from a group of approximately 200 youths”. 

Following that incident, gardaí said ‘soft cap’ public order units with shields were deployed to disperse crowds along South Anne Street and Dawson Street. Images of the unit with their shields and hard helmets attracted commentary and criticism on social media tonight. 

An Garda Síochána, in its statement, said access to those streets was temporarily restricted as “part of a normal policing response to a live ongoing operation to ensure public and officer safety, preventing further disorder and restoring order”. It also described the policing response as “measured and considered”. 

Another incident of glass bottles being thrown at gardaí was reported in Temple Bar at about 10.15pm. ‘Soft cap’ public order units, this time without shields, were deployed to disperse the crowd. 

No injuries were reported but a garda vehicle was damaged in Temple Bar. Gardaí said batons were not drawn at either incident tonight. 

On Friday evening, gardaí used batons on South William Street to disperse crowds following another bottle-throwing incident. 

At midnight, gardaí said the public order policing operation had concluded and that uniformed officers continued to patrol.