PUBLIC ORDER:ST PATRICK'S Day celebrations passed off without major incident in the main cities, according to gardaí in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway last night.
In Dublin, about 550,000 people attended the parade, according to the Garda press office, but a spokesman said the event had passed off peacefully.
“No major incidents have been reported. The number of arrests were very much in keeping with previous years and mostly consisted of public order offences and other minor offences,” he said, adding that the full number of arrests across the State would not be known until today.
However, a spokesman for the Dublin Fire Brigade said the service was handling a “much higher volume of calls”, with ambulance call-outs particularly high.
“We’ve already seen a huge increase in ambulance calls this evening,” a spokesman said, adding that this was expected to increase as the night wore on.
The Dublin Coast Guard reported one incident in which a woman became inebriated on Nun’s Beach at Howth and was unable to climb back up the cliff path. She was lifted by the Howth inshore lifeboat and taken to Howth Harbour, where she was transferred to a waiting ambulance.
In Cork, a number of arrests were made but gardaí said there was no major trouble in the city. In Limerick, gardaí said the parade had passed off peacefully while gardaí in Galway reported no major incidents.