Gardaí in Cork broke up a "car meet" on Saturday evening which was attended by more than 250 vehicles and up to 800 people.

There was little evidence of social distancing, face masks or general compliance with public health guidance surrounding Covid-19, said gardaí.

The event was “a disgraceful gathering of persons, despite the health advices in the last few days”, said the Garda, quoting an inspector who attended the scene.

Hospital Report

Car meets are typically gatherings of enthusiasts in a public place such as a car park. Saturday's event took at Eastgate Retail Park, Little Island, outside Cork city. It is understood it was organised through social media and on messenger groups.

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There were some older males, aged in their 30s and 40s in attendance, some of whom had brought their children.

However, most attendees were men and woman aged in their 20s. Participants travelled from the greater Cork area and various parts of Munster to attend, said gardaí

“Gardaí immediately engaged with this large group and advised them to disperse, a direction which was complied with by all in attendance within a short period of time. There were no public order incidents and sufficient gardaí attended the scene to effectively disperse the gathering.”

One man was arrested at the scene for drunkenness and he was later charged and bailed to appear in court at a later date while gardaí also seized a souped-up Lexus belonging to another enthusiast under section 41 Road Traffic Act.

“It was pure stupidity on the part of those who gathered in Little Island. They somehow either weren’t aware of or completely ignored the recent public health advice on limiting social contacts to prevent a rise in Covid 19 numbers,” said a Garda source.

According to a spokesman for the force there were no public order incidents at the gathering and the whole incident was over within 30 minutes. But he urged car enthusiasts to listen to the public health advice so that there would be no repeat over the Christmas period or beyond.

Criminal sanctions 

Following the incident the Garda also took the opportunity to issue a reminder that many Covid-19 restrictions remain in place including a ban on organised events involving more than 15 people, something which can attract criminal sanctions.

"While this event appears to have been organised on social media, An Garda Síochána has and will continue to investigate any event held in breach of the Covid-19 regulations and advice will be sought from the DPP in each case."