MORE THAN 90 per cent of people arrested for drink-related public order offences in Waterford are young men, new figures have shown. The study shows most of public order arrests are made in the early morning and that the average profile of offender is male and in his early 20s.
The figures, compiled by gardaí in Waterford city, show that out of 926 people arrested for public order offences in the city last year, up to 840 were young men.
Supt Chris Delaney of Waterford Garda station said there was a direct link between the level of public disorder in the city and nightclub opening hours. "The majority of these offences occur between the hours of midnight and 5am," Supt Delaney said.
"We're satisfied that all of these incidents were alcohol-related and I'm sure a large percentage may have had drugs taken as well. It's a cocktail and combination of both."
Supt Delaney added: "It's not only nightclubs and pubs but there are issues here with off-licences as well. There's no doubt about it that young people, particularly young males, are consuming vast quantities of drink before they ever go to pubs or night clubs.
"For the first three months of 2008 we've had 168 public order incidents, which is very high," he said. "We are satisfied from our records that less than 10 per cent of people involved in these incidents were female. It's certainly apparent there's a group of young males we need to identify, who consume considerable amounts of alcohol at the weekends."