GARDAÍ ARRESTED A total of 434 people in the capital over the St Patrick’s Day festival, The Journal has learned.

The vast majority of these arrests were for public order incidents while a smaller percentage are for drugs and theft offences. 

The numbers cover all districts within the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) from 16 to 20 March.

In DMR North Central (which covers the northern part of the city), there were 94 arrests – 49 of them for public order and 16 for theft. The rest were for a host of other offences including drugs, fraud, assault and driving under the influence. 

In DMR South Central (which covers the southern part of the city), there were 140 arrests with 70 for public order incidents. 

In DMR Northern (which covers Coolock, Ballymun, Raheny and Balbriggan) , there were 63 arrests – 16 for public order and 10 for theft. 

In DMR Southern (which covers areas such as Tallaght, Crumlin and Terenure), there were 50 arrests – 11 for public order offences with the rest spread across various other offences.

Under Operation Citizen, which was introduced to try to reduce anti-social behaviour and petty crime around the city. senior and local Garda management planned, organised and coordinated policing activities in the capital over the course of the St. Patrick’s festival. 

This included high-visibility member patrols.

In total, over 2,100 Garda personnel across all ranks were deployed on St Patrick’s Day/ Night in the capital.

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In her report to the Joint Policing Committee, Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for the DMR, Anne Maria Cagney, said there was also a greater focus on policing public transport. 

“There was good co-operation from management of some licensed premises in the DMR, who agreed to refrain from the sale of off sales of alcohol until 4pm, which significantly assisted in the policing of St Patrick’s day.

“The St Patrick’s festival saw a significant influx of social activity in the DMR that required an appropriate and proportionate policing response to reassure the citizens, visitors and the business community in Dublin that it is a safe place in which to visit, socialise, conduct business and enjoy all its amenities over the St. Patrick’s Festival,” she said.