House Party
The Mayor of Waterford has described a local house party that was attended by 60 teenagers as totally unacceptable.
Video footage has emerged of Gardaí clearing a house in Templar's Hall on Saturday night.
Waterford Mayor Damien Geoghegan said the gathering was totally unacceptable.
“To see 63 or 64 people emerging from a semi-detached house in a housing estate in Waterford city, it was shocking really."
"I was grossly irresponsible by the people involved”.
“It is understandable that young people will want to meet up with their friends."
"But to have that amount of people at a house party in the present circumstances is just totally unacceptable.”
Under public health restrictions at the time, indoor gatherings should have been limited to a maximum of six people.
The new guidelines allow for up to 50 people indoors.
The chair of the COVID-19 Expert Advisory Group, Dr Cillian de Gascun, has warned that the new guideline is "certainly not intended to mean a house party."
Mayor Geoghegan said Waterford has been “doing quite well” in terms of its COVID-19 infection rate and locals were “shocked and angry” to see footage of the party being broken up.
“We have seen the effect that COVID-19 has on people,” he said. “We have seen the pressure the health service is under."
“We have to bear in mind that the restrictions are eased, it doesn’t mean that COIVD-19 has gone away, it means we have to be more vigilant than ever."
