Gardaí respond to public order incident as crowds gather at Burrow Beach in Dublin

Gardaí responded to reports of disturbances at Burrow Beach in Sutton following complaints from residents.

Footage captured this morning by the Irish Independent shows large amounts of litter left behind on the beach, including empty beer cans, boxes, clothing, bottles, empty laughing gas cans, and plastic bags.

A garda spokeswoman said: “Gardaí responded to reports of disturbances on Burrow Beach in Dublin 13 on Monday evening, June 24.

“A number of units attended the scene at around 6pm and crowds were later dispersed from the area. Investigations are ongoing.”

Labour Councillor Brian McDonagh said this is “not a new phenomenon” and that the beach has become an increasingly popular spot for day-trippers on sunny days due to its location near the Dart

“It’s just become the place where people are going, and generally at the start of summer, you will find lots of usually young people, maybe late teens or early twenties, arriving on the beach,” he said.

“The bylaws we have in Ireland are there to prevent anti-social behaviour and to ensure people are enjoying themselves on the beach.

“We’d all love to be in a position where we could have a nice, cold, quiet beer or maybe a glass of wine, in a civilised manner.

“But the point is, if you get lots of people drinking on the beach, particularly if you have big crowds on a beach, often, not always, it can end up in nasty situations with fights and littering, which is a huge problem.”

Reflecting on yesterday’s incident, he said the situation was “entirely predictable”.

Fingal County Council has done some work in recent years around Burrow Beach to ensure the public have access to toilets and that the dunes are protected.

However, Cllr McDonagh said when there are large crowds, it becomes “much more difficult to control” for lifeguards on duty.

“I understand that garda resources are pressed. However, I feel on a day like yesterday, the beaches need to be monitored, and they need to be proactive in enforcing bylaws around alcohol,” he said.

“If you’re in a position where people are going down to drink and they think it’ll get seized, they will be less likely to bring it down or they’ll go elsewhere to do that.”

Monday was the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 26.5 degrees Celsius in Phoenix Park at 3pm.