There were chaotic scenes on South William Street in Dublin city centre last night as large crowds of mostly young people gathered to socialise at the beginning of a sunny bank holiday weekend.
RTÉ reported that a number of people were arrested and missiles were thrown at Gardai after a number of public order incidents in the city centre.
BREAKING: A number of people have been arrested and missiles were thrown at Gardai after a number of public order incidents in Dublin City Centre tonight. The Garda Public Order Unit blocked access to South William Street and Gardai are still dealing with large crowds @rtenews
— Samantha Libreri (@SamanthaLibreri) June 4, 2021
Some commenters immediately disagreed with RTÉ’s reporting, and said that the Gardai had used excessive force against young people who had very little options for places to go in a long lockdown.
I watched the footage…Gardaí herding young kids with batons! They were all moving there was no need for that violence..complete police brutality..bit of course blame the young people now. #SouthWilliamStreet
— stacemoy (@Stacemoy1306) June 5, 2021
People posted videos of the Gardai acting to disperse the crowd.
Ieri sera ci sono stati disordini a Dublino. La Garda, la polizia locale, è intervenuta per disperdere la folla che si era radunata in centro, in particolare a South William Street. Diverse persone sono state arrestate. #Covidpic.twitter.com/zbdI9WRWzn
— IrlandaOggi (@IrlandaOggi) June 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/Mick_O_Keeffe/status/1400957008304541700
However, the Garda press office said that “whilst interacting with a specific group at South William street, glass bottles and other missiles were thrown at Gardai.”
Others said all sides were over-reacting, and said everyone needed to calm down
Dear Irishtwitter would you ever calm down about South William Street. We do not live in a police state. #SouthWilliamStreet
— Kenny (@Kennowitz) June 5, 2021
And some saw humour in the whole situation..
https://twitter.com/jackomeara12/status/1399470520089944071
Funny, I never knew Dublin only had the one street. Thought it was a bit bigger than just #Southwilliamstreet
— Ginol (@johnnoeloleary) June 5, 2021