Danny Healy-Rae has said he wasn’t aware of the gathering in spite of footage of him in attendance
Video footage has emerged online appearing to show breaches of Covid-19 regulations at a pub in Kilgarvin owned by Independent TD Danny Healy Rae.
The video was uploaded by Radio Kerry’s current affairs programme Kerry Today on Twitter, and shows a gathering in the pub with an apparent lack of mask-wearing and social distancing. There’s also footage of people dancing topless, sitting on each other shoulders and taking photos.
The video footage from the gathering shows Healy-Rae in attendance and posing for pictures.
Kerry Today said it had contacted Healy-Rae about the video on Wednesday but he said he wasn’t aware of a gathering which appeared to breach Covid-19 restrictions.
The clip appears to have originated from the Snapchat account of Councillor Maura Healy Rae.
JOE has contacted Deputy Danny Healy-Rae and Councillor Maura Healy-Rae for comment on the matter.
https://twitter.com/kerrytodayrk/status/1423190296922296324?s=21
It comes as news broke that Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan attended a large outdoor party organised by a Green Party councillor at Merrion Cricket Club after the Dublin Bay South by-election.
According to the Irish Examiner, the event was organised by Green candidate Claire Byrne on 29 July and was held “to thank those who campaigned” for her in the by-election
The Irish Examiner reported on Wednesday that photos from the event showed Byrne alongside multiple guests, many of whom were out of their seats, with Byrne saying that “no more than 50 people were in attendance at any one time”.
“Minister Ryan attended an outdoor event at a sports club last week to thank those who campaigned in the recent by-election,” a spokesperson for Ryan told JOE.
“The health regulations allow for outdoor gatherings involving up to 200 people for a variety of reasons including social and community purposes.”
However, Fáilte Ireland’s guidelines for reopening hotels and guesthouses state that “organised events, indoor and outdoor, are not permitted” unless they are weddings or “non-social meetings, training and educational programmes considered essential to the operation of a business”.
The invite to the Green Party event was reportedly sent to 3,500 members.
The news came after Katherine Zappone confirmed on Wednesday that she will not accept the appointment as Special Envoy on freedom of opinion and expression in a statement that failed to address a 50-person function held days before the announcement of the appointment.
Zappone issued the statement on the same day it was reported that she hosted a private outdoor function attended by the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and around 50 other people.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
