on the morning of 16 april, a man was arrested and charged following a public order and assault incident at a checkpoint in muckmoyne, boyle, county roscommon; the man would not co-operate and became aggressive, including spitting. on 21 april, suspected drugs worth €230,000 were seized during a covid-19 patrol in limerick, and two people were arrested. on the morning of 24 april, a man from ballymun was arrested and later charged with four breaches of the health (preservation and protection and other emergency measures in the public interest) act 2020. on 19 may, it was reported that a "serial offender" and driver of a škoda, who continued to steal fuel from petrol stations in breach of covid-19 travel restrictions so that he could service his cocaine debt, was banned from driving for two years and received a four-month suspended sentence. on 27 may, four men from brazil were arrested and charged with two charges of possession of firearms and a breach of covid-19 travel restrictions. they were arrested at 12 midnight near clara, county offaly, while travelling in two vehicles. all four men were brought separately to portlaoise district court on the morning of 29 may. on 18 june, it was reported that a 17-year-old teenager became the first juvenile to face court charges for breaching covid-19 travel restrictions. the breaches are alleged to have occurred in blanchardstown, dublin, on 25 april, in county limerick on 27 april and in clondalkin, dublin, on 28 april. on 2 october, as part of a policing plan at the university of limerick, gardaí in castletroy, limerick shut down 35 student house parties, arrested 5 people for public order offences and trespassing offences, and issued 30 anti-social behaviour warnings and 70 on the spot ticket fines; 45 for alcohol consumption; 25 for illegal parking. on the night of 19 december, gardaí broke up an organised "car meet" of 800 people in more than 250 cars that breached covid-19 regulations in little island, county cork. on the night of 2 march 2021, three men in their 20s were arrested and more than 50 fixed payment notices were issued in limerick after gardaí broke up a street party involving large groups of students drinking, dancing, singing and setting of fireworks, near the university of limerick. the next day on 3 march, one of the three men arrested was charged with public order offences, while minister for justice helen mcentee urged young people to comply with covid-19 restrictions. on 12 march, gardaí confirmed that two people were arrested and more than 80 fines were issued after around 300 people gathered for the funeral of a young traveller man in carrick-on-shannon on 11 march, despite level 5 restrictions limiting mourners to 10 people. on 29 may, four people were arrested for public order offences after large crowds gathered in parts of dublin city centre, while chief medical officer tony holohan stated that he was "absolutely shocked" by the crowds that gathered. riots occurred during the 2021 june bank holiday weekend in dublin city centre. on the night of 4 june, 14 people (including 5 juveniles) were arrested for public order offences and a garda received hospital treatment, after violence broke out in dublin city centre in which glass bottles were thrown at gardaí, which resulted in a patrol car being damaged. minister for health stephen donnelly described the incidents as "thuggish behaviour and completely unacceptable". on the night of 5 june, 19 people (including 2 juveniles) were arrested for public order offences and two gardaí received hospital treatment, after violence broke out in dublin's south city centre for a second consecutive night in which a person was assaulted, a bin was set on fire and glass bottles were thrown, which resulted in a patrol car being damaged. on the night of 6 june, 14 people (including 3 juveniles) were arrested for public order offences, after violence broke out in dublin's south city centre for a third consecutive night, while gardaí arrested 8 people in cork. on the night of 14 july, hundreds of people gathered outside the convention centre in dublin to protest against the government's response to the covid-19 pandemic after the dáil passed legislation to allow for the reopening of indoor dining. on 24 july, around 1,500 protestors gathered in dublin city centre to protest against vaccines, new legislation allowing for the reopening of indoor dining and the eu digital covid certificate. on 22 august, following crowds of people gathering after the 2021 all-ireland senior hurling championship final, gardaí began investigating alleged breaches of covid-19 regulations at a pub near croke park, while several pubs were temporarily shut by gardaí due to anti-social behaviour and a lack of social distancing. on 5 november, 17 people were arrested following an investigation into suspected covid-19 social welfare fraud at a number of business premises in dublin. anti-lockdown protests on 22 august 2020, four men were arrested after around 500 people attended an anti-lockdown rally organised by the yellow vests ireland group at custom house quay in dublin. on 12 september, around 3,000 attended two anti-mask protests organised by the yellow vests ireland group at custom house quay in dublin. the next day on 13 september, gardaí began an investigation of an assault of an activist following clashes between an anti-mask group and a counter-protest outside leinster house. on 10 october, two men were arrested after a total of 250 demonstrators attended an anti-lockdown protest organised by the national party outside leinster house in dublin. on 27 february 2021, 23 people were arrested and 3 gardaí were injured (including one hospitalised), as around 500 protesters took part in an anti-lockdown protest in dublin city centre, with fireworks being fired at gardaí, while st stephen's green and the iveagh gardens closed in advance of the protest. the protest was widely condemned by the gardaí and politicians. taoiseach micheál martin stated that he "utterly condemned" the protest, which "posed an unacceptable risk to both the public and gardaí" and also praised the gardaí who moved quickly to make arrests and restore order. tánaiste leo varadkar stated that he was horrified and that there was no excuse for violence to gardaí or anyone, while minister for justice helen mcentee stated that the situation was "completely unacceptable and was an insult to so many who had worked so hard in the fight against covid-19 and to those who had died". the violent protest resulted in 13 people, including 12 men and 1 woman, charged and remanded in custody for public order offences, while tánaiste leo varadkar stated that the violence on the streets of dublin was "not a protest and was a riot". on 2 march, a man in his 30s was arrested in connection with the firework attack on gardaí at the violent anti-lockdown protest on 27 february. the next day on 3 march, jake merriman, a 30-year-old man, appeared in court charged in connection with the firework attack on gardaí. seven months later on 28 october, merriman was further charged with endangerment of life by launching a firework at gardaí. he was accused of possessing glass bottles capable of causing serious injury, violent disorder, and endangering life by propelling a lighted firework causing a substantial risk of death or serious harm. on 6 march, gardaí arrested 6 people (5 men and 1 woman) as around 450 people attended an anti-lockdown protest in cork city centre that ended without incident. on 16 march, the garda síochána urged people to stay at home for st patrick's day as a significant policing operation was put in place to deal with planned protests in dublin city with 2,500 gardaí being deployed across the country. gardaí continued to carry out checkpoints focused on non-essential travel, patrolling at public amenities, road safety activity, managing any large gatherings that may occur and providing support for the vulnerable, including victims of domestic violence. on st patrick's day 2021, gardaí arrested 21 people after around 700 protestors took part in a number of anti-lockdown protests in dublin city centre, herbert park and at the rté campus in donnybrook. one day later on 18 march, it was confirmed that 7 gardaí were injured (including five hospitalised) after being kicked, punched and spat at during the separate violent anti-lockdown protests that took place on st patrick's day. on 20 march, gardaí arrested 11 people and issued a number of fines after around 200 protestors took part in an anti-lockdown protest in the phoenix park in dublin city centre. on 3 april, around 300 protestors took part in an anti-lockdown protest at the national monument on the grand parade in cork city centre. one day later on 4 april (easter sunday), gardaí arrested 8 people as part of a policing plan around an anti-lockdown protest planned in dublin city centre. on 1 may, around 370 protestors took part in an anti-lockdown protest at the national monument on the grand parade in cork city centre. on 3 july, more than 300 protestors took part in an anti-lockdown protest in dublin city centre. on 27 november, thousands of people attended a protest against covid-19 restrictions and vaccine passports at the gpo on dublin's o'connell street. on 22 january 2022, despite the easing of almost all covid-19 restrictions, around 1,000 people gathered at the garden of remembrance in dublin city centre calling for the end of all restrictions and the end of face masks for children in schools. operation fanacht a garda checkpoint stopping motorists on the eve of a public holiday weekend to investigate if any are violating the restrictions on travel operation fanacht (fan-akt; irish: fanacht, "staying") commenced at 12 noon on wednesday 8 april 2020 and continued until the night of monday 13 april, lasting therefore for the busiest part of the easter period. its purpose was to enforce travel restrictions which had then only recently been imposed to combat the virus. the garda síochána described it as follows in its statement announcing the end of the operation: "every day of operation fanacht, an garda síochána conducted 150 permanent checkpoints on major routes, over 500 shorter and mobile checkpoints, as well as a large number of high visibility patrols at tourist locations, natural beauty spots, and parks and beaches". also as part of operation fanacht, the garda air support unit (gasu) confirmed its helicopters were conducting aerial surveillance of locations suspected as being used by large numbers of people while not adhering to social distancing. gardaí declared operation fanacht a success after only seven arrests. one of these was a 36-year-old man who drove from derry (in the north of the country) to kerry (in the southwest of the country), his initial purpose being as an employee of a security firm (for which he had no evidence), while his second excuse was the purchase of two puppies; gardaí stopped him for the first incident at dooneen outside castleisland and for the second incident outside killarney. he appeared at court in tralee and was imprisoned for four weeks. earlier, on 9 april, 20,000 unstamped cigarettes worth more than €10,000 were seized at a covid-19 checkpoint in bohola, county mayo. on 10 april, more than €6,300 of cocaine was seized at a covid-19 checkpoint. on 13 april (the easter monday public holiday), two women raced past a garda checkpoint in lifford, county donegal, and headed eastwards across the border. the psni seized their vehicle (abandoned near clady, county tyrone) and fined both ladies under the legislation, health protection regulations ni 2020 (coronavirus restrictions), for good measure. in the early hours of 14 april, gardaí in dublin arrested two men and one woman and seized two guns and €500,000 in cocaine at the conclusion of a car chase that got underway at a covid-19 checkpoint on the phibsborough road. operation fanacht recommenced for the may bank holiday weekend, began at 7:00 am on tuesday 28 april and continued until the end of monday 4 may. it again involved large-scale checkpoints on many main routes, and thousands of mobile checkpoints on secondary routes and in towns and villages. one man was arrested after breaching the travel restrictions thrice on one day of the may bank holiday weekend; after being warned for being in the company of people from other households and while walking elsewhere