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A RESTAURATEUR WHO is involved with the Dublin pub Berlin D2 has said he was “appalled”, “very unhappy” and “embarassed” by the scenes in the venue at the weekend.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Jay Bourke said he had reviewed CCTV from the bar during the brunch event and was satisfied that the videos shared on social media showed “20 seconds of madness” and that the event was “well controlled” aside from this incident.
On the same programme, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said the videos were a “slap in the face” to all those following the guidelines and working hard to stem the spread of Covid-19. He also said it would be up to the gardaí on whether to prepare a file on the matter for the DPP.
The footage uploaded to social media showed customers at the Dublin city centre venue who were not social distancing and a barman pouring drinks into people’s mouths.
Customers were asked to stay in assigned areas which were marked by tape on the floor, but people could be seen dancing close together in the videos.
The videos provoked strong criticism, with acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn describing them as “reckless” and a spokesperson for the Licenced Vintners Association calling them “outrageous and appalling”.
Bourke told RTÉ that he had reviewed CCTV footage, spoken to staff and also spoke to gardaí in relation to the incident.
“I’m satisfied I’ve got to the bottom of it all,” he said, and described how the venue was at about 20% capacity with staff wearing appropriate PPE and adhering to the public health guidelines.
“The 20-second clip was taken at ten to four,” Bourke said. “One of my barman jumped on the bar. It looked horrific. It looked like it had gone bananas… the footage doesn’t reflect what went on that day at all.”
He said people had been kept socially distant prior to this and – while young people have to “have fun”, he would ensure “it will never happen again”.
“It wasn’t a free for all, he said. “Up until that moment, it was a professionally-run establishment.”
Bourke said that the venue enjoys a good relationship with the gardaí, and he’d turned over the footage to them.
In the wake of the heavy criticism, he said that judgement should not be cast on the basis of the clips being shared online.
“I don’t think we broke the law, it was 20 seconds of madness,” he added.
Speaking generally, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said behaviour like that seen in the footage from Berlin D2 was “reckless” and “poses a threat to public health”.
“We’re not messing around here,” he said. “We’re in the midst of a global pandemic.”
Donnelly said that the vast majority of businesses have been compliant with the public health regulations but added that places found to be in breach of these regulations should be shut down.
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This is getting way too complicated for me! I quit!!
It’s simple, they screw us and we take it
Its simple – the idea of 17 different nations all having the same currency is daft
You cannot have ONE currency and 17 FINANCE MINISTERS!
Mmmm its begining to look an awful lot like Declan Ganleys proposal to federalise the EU debts using the ESM as the vehicle to facilitate this.
Correct Sean. Also looking an awful lot like Ganley was right when he said there would be no money left in the ESM by the time Ireland required the second bailout.
I don’t agree Sean. The fact that knowing that the EFSF and ESM will be able to intervene and buy bonds directly will probably push the yield down even without them actually having to do anything. That will make it possible for countries to actually use the markets instead of the bailout mechanisms.
If you look at the recent short-term Spanish bond issue it was actually oversubscribed from buyers. Yes, Spain paid a premium because the markets knew that they have no other choice currently but to pay that price. If however the Spanish can simply turn to the EFSF/ESM and sell their bonds to them at a lower yield then the markets will ultimately have to follow because they have to buy and sell bonds to make any money. There the markets will offer the lower rates and the EFSF/ESM won’t actually have to do anything.
@ Jim Walsh
Your analysis is somewhat skewed.
Firstly EFSF and ESM do not have the €750 billion being brandied about, this is an imaginary figure because they are just sums that have been promised by EZ member countries including Italy and Spain! Where is it going to come from if it is actually needed?
Secondly, you sound very simplistic when you assume that the markets will offer lower rates because of (a non existent fund?). That is precisely what was expected when we had this phony €100 billion bailout for Spanish banks 2 weeks ago, rather the markets rightly saw through the charade and the Spanish bond rates has not reduced but topped 7% this week .
By the time the markets see that this an unholy cross between a sham and scam- it will all start again.
Jim. 750bn is nowhere near enough to bailout Spain and Italy. It will not solve the crisis only buy more time.
Not at all… Italy payed 20% of Spain’s bailout at an interest of 3% … To pay this Italy borrowed from the ESM at 7% … Basically it has put both countries over the edge and now Italy’s closer to boiling…. European union fail…..
This is just a precursor to the American dept crisis… The real crash the dollar bust
750bn would be enough to bailout Spain for this year, but not Spain and Italy.
Spanish banks borrow over 300bn a month from the ECB, and have 3 trn in debt.
This is a big step forward but a long way from resolving it. Look at how Greece has nearly swallowed half of that 750 already and it is only 1/14 the size of these two and its banks and private sector have low debt, as opposed to Spain/
Italy did not borrow from the ESM at 7% – they borrowed on the open markets at 7%
The whole thing is going to burst in 3 years time
What date?
I predict this will go ahead and the morning headline will be ‘costs drop on borrowing’ followed by an evening headline of ‘costs rise after morning rest-bite, markets unconvinced’. Whatever they do the markets keep coming back at us harder, we really are slaves to the markets.
We are slaves to the market but it is a point as well, that half gestures like this, can’t be expected to solve anything.
The crisis is because of the euro. You cannot have a monetary union without a fiscal union. And you cannot have a fiscal union without political union.
The parliaments of Europe will never agree to political union
They will also never agree to fiscal union. The principle power a parliament has is control over the finances. They will never hand over this power to Brussels
The euro crisis could be over in the morning if the ECB was allowed to buy up sovereign debt. But Dr Merkel will not give them that power. She will only give them that power when there is a fiscal union. And a full fiscal union, if there ever is one, could take years
For example the Bank of England has bought up a THIRD of UK sovereign debt. That is why Britains yields or interest rates are down at 1.5%. If Spain had its own central bank, it could mop up all their govt debt and have the same low yields
The markets ate sure to look for a way to exploit this if it becomes reality. Is it possible?
The question is will it become reality? All 17 countries will have to agree to this scheme. Will the triple AAA countries agree if they think it will damage their ratings?
Sorry that last comment should have been directed at Too Trueleft and not Sean.
That piggy bank is looking awfully small right now.
*sorry not directed at you. General comment.
have your say