Northern Ireland

Arrests and fines after police break up Holylands house parties

Police issued 55 Covid notices in the Holylands area of south Belfast on St Patrick's Day
Police issued 55 Covid notices in the Holylands area of south Belfast on St Patrick's Day Police issued 55 Covid notices in the Holylands area of south Belfast on St Patrick's Day

THREE people have been arrested and more than 100 Covid notices issued after police broke up house parties in the Holylands area of Belfast.

Officers were called to several parties over Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday.

A total of 94 Cov4 notices, which carry a fine of at least £200, were issued.

In addition, officers handed out 11 Cov2 notices. These are `warnings' for the purposes of stopping a person from continuing to breach the regulations.

Three people were arrested, another four reported to the Public Prosecution Service and one Community Resolution Notice issued.

Chief Inspector Gavin Kirkpatrick said police received several reports throughout Monday afternoon, night and into the early hours of yesterday of anti-social behaviour in the Holylands area.

"Officers attended on a number of occasions to disperse various groups of people," he said.

"Police would encourage residents to continue to report issues of anti-social behaviour to them. While local officers will be making follow-up enquiries, it is disappointing that we continue to receive reports about noisy parties and anti-social behaviour in this residential area.

"Police are currently in the Holylands and will continue to have a nightly policing operation in this area this week. Local residents should be respected and should not have to contend with this type of behaviour."

The arrests came as the Department of Health confirmed there have been a three further Covid-19 deaths in the north.

An additional 57 positive cases of were also reported in the last day.

It is the lowest number of cases reported in a 24-hour period since last September.

In the Republic, there have been nine further deaths of people who had tested positive.

Another 443 confirmed cases of were also notified on Tuesday.

As of April 3, 932,324 doses of Covid vaccine had been administered. This includes 660,800 first doses and 271,524 second doses.

One in six adults in the Republic have now received at least one dose, the health minister said.

Stephen Donnelly also said that Ireland has one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 in Europe.

"The number of people with Covid in ICUs has fallen by about 75 per cent since peak in late January," he said.

"We've one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 in Europe now. We're making huge progress."

There are currently 261 patients in hospital with Covid-19, of which 60 are in ICUs.