The Deputy Chief Medical Officer says he's sympathetic to a point with people who are gathering in large groups outdoors.
Gardaí cleared a crowd of hundreds from St Stephen's Green in Dublin yesterday evening.
It came shortly after a group gained access to a band stand that had been cordoned off.
I Understand You Are Fed Up, But Stick With Us
Dr Ronan Glynn says he understands why people might be sick of the restrictions, but insists they're in place for good reasons:
"We've been pushing these messages for 15 months"
He adds "We've been asking young people, and people of all ages, to alter their lives dramatically over the last year and a half."
"So it's fully understandable that people are frustrated or don't want to stick with this."
"But on the other side of that, the reason why we're asking people to stick with these messages is for their own safety and the safety of their families, friends and communities.
Social Distance Or Wear A Mask
He's also urging people to gather safely this weekend, and stick to all Covid 19 guidelines.
It follows scenes of crowds in Dublin, Cork and Galway last weekend, and again last night in the capital.
Dr. Glynn says it's impossible to predict what damage the virus might do, even to younger people:
"We still have about 3,000 cases a week in the country.
Now compared with a few months ago, the vast majority of those cases are in younger people.
So people under 45 years of age, those people are less likely to get a severe disease, less likely to end up in hospital or critical care or to die.
But we can't be sure for any one person what their outcome is going to be."
Will EP Go Ahead This Summer?
Dr. Glynn says the return of events like Electric Picnic depends on vaccinations and variants through the summer.
The Deputy CMO says he's received worrying UK reports overnight.
Those are about the Delta variant which originated in India.
He says the possibility of having large scale events once again hinges on the vaccination programme:
"I think a big part of determining the extent to which things like EP and other events like will be able go ahead though the summer and beyond, is the extent to which people get vaccinated when it's offered to them."
Dr. Glynn has also urged everyone to follow the older age groups in taking the opportunity of a vaccine when it comes.
He says the elders in Irish society are "the best in Europe."
