Bottles and glasses were thrown at uniformed Gardaí after they were called to deal with disturbances involving hundreds of young people outside an Eyre Square pub on Wednesday night. Gardaí had to call in reinforcements to deal with the trouble which occurred when they tried to move on revellers who had blocked traffic on the eastern side of the square at about 9pm. No arrests were made at the scene, but Gardaí were yesterday trawling through CCTV footage from the area after what was described as “serious trouble” which occurred when unofficial student ‘Leitrim Day’ celebrations got out of hand. Many of the drunken revellers who prevented cars from driving through Eyre Square were wearing Leitrim GAA jerseys, aping the unofficial Rag Week ‘Donegal Tuesday’ celebrations in February which have been condemned by student leaders at both NUI Galway and GMIT over the past two years. It is understood that many of those who took part in the disturbances on Wednesday night are not living in Galway, but were bussed into the city centre from other towns and cities, including Sligo, Letterkenny, and Dublin, from about 6pm. “The disturbances occurred after a large group of young people had congregated on the east side of Eyre Square,” confirmed a Garda spokesperson yesterday. “There was a large crowd out on the road, blocking traffic, when the Gardaí arrived. A number of bottles and glasses were thrown, but thankfully nobody was badly injured. More Gardaí were called to the scene, in a bid to clear the area, and the matter is under investigation.” Motorists were understood to be intimidated by the revellers, who prevented them from moving while chanting slogans and waving their GAA jerseys on the street. One girl was taken from the scene by ambulance after allegedly being struck in the face by a bottle. It is understood that the ‘Leitrim Day’ celebration was organised through social media site Facebook and coincided with a double vodka and Red Bull drinks promotion at Fibber Magees pub. The Facebook page was deleted following the disturbances late on Wednesday night. Student leaders at NUI Galway have condemned the organising of cheap drinks promotions at city centre pubs and warned students of the consequences of being convicted of public order offences, including being refused visas to the USA and Australia.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 07:43:24 +0000
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