Gardaí jokingly suggest pregnant women should opt for home births during Papal visit

A great bunch of lads.

A Q&A held by the Gardaí Twitter account dominated Irish social media on Thursday night as the police force opened to floor to public Pope-related questions. The session – which was held across Twitter and Facebook –  included a number of social media users enquiring about the limits of the traffic restrictions set to take across most of Dublin for the weekend. https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/1032655103843594246 One such inquiry related to travelling to a maternity hospital in the capital. "Travelling from Celbridge to the Coombe over the weekend, and may be in a hurry, will I encounter road closures along the route?" In a reply on Twitter, Gardaí suggested: "An Garda Síochána are promoting home births in the Dublin areas on Sunday next. There is also a great deal of public transport available also." It also linked to a section on the Health Service Executive (HSE) website that relates to home birth services. https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/1032688377001398272 However just over 10 minutes later, the official @GardaTraffic account said: "Only Joking.! Garda bikers and cars available to escort emergency cases into hospitals." https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic/status/1032691957733249025 A number of users responded to the prank – explaining that due to the citywide limitations in place for the Papal visit – saying they would not be surprised if it were true. https://twitter.com/rainey_78/status/1032693150962380800 A list of actual restrictions in place for the Papal visit can be found here.