West Cork wedding may have breached Covid guidelines

A WEST Cork Traveller wedding that took place in Tralee recently is being investigated by gardaí for potential breaches of Covid-19 public health regulations.

A garda spokesperson said that where breaches occur ‘a file will be prepared for the DPP, or a fixed payment notice will be issued.’

Possible breaches include the number of people who attended the wedding and those who travelled outside the 5km.

However, gardaí say the non-wearing of facemasks in open spaces and social distancing ‘are public health guidelines and are not penal regulations.’

The lavish wedding attracted onlookers outside St John’s Church and lots of photographs and video footage quickly appeared online, leading to public concerns that Covid-19 regulations were breached.

The young bride arrived in a Cinderella-style carriage drawn by four white horses, while the groom arrived in one of the two white Hummer limousines that followed close behind.

Online images show a wedding party of about 20 people posing for various photographs outside the church.

Inside the church initially there were about six people – which is in accordance with the current Level 5 restrictions – but the numbers increased after the wedding march down the aisle.

Martin Collins, co-director of Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, issued a statement saying: ‘Pavee Point has been really consistent and very clear since the onset of the pandemic that all large gatherings, funerals, weddings, engagements, birthdays, anniversaries, all of those events need to be put on hold.

He said: ‘I’m pleading with Travellers to avoid large gatherings and keep their two metre distance, wash their hands and wear their facemask.

‘The vast majority of Travellers are obeying the guidelines. But there is a significant minority in our community who are not, we need to get the message to them.’