Most laws in Ireland are largely known as they are pretty straight forward and you would expect to get into trouble by breaking them.
However, there are some lesser-known laws that, if broken, could land you in some hot water.
For example, if a Garda suspects you have committed a public order offence, you must give them your name and address if you are asked for them.
In fact, it is an offence if you fail to give your name and address in this situation, and you can be arrested without a warrant.
Here is a list of laws that, if broken, could see you arrested and fined.
Being drunk in a public place
Over the course of the pandemic, many people took to drinking with friends in parks and on the streets.
However, it is a public order offence to be drunk in a public place.
If a Garda suspects that you are intoxicated in a public place, they can take the intoxicating substance away from you.
And can result in:
- A fixed charge fine of €100, or
- The maximum class E fine of €500, if the Gardaí decide to prosecute you for the offence, and you are convicted
Disorderly conduct in a public place
Offensive conduct is unreasonable behaviour that is likely to cause serious offence or serious annoyance to other people.
This public order offence aims to deal with disorderly behaviour, which falls short of threatening behaviour but could still adversely affect the quality of people’s lives.
For example, people shouting late at night after leaving a nightclub would cause serious annoyance to local residents.
It is an offence to engage in offensive conduct in a public place:
- Between the hours of midnight and 7am, or
- At any time, if a Garda has asked you to stop
The penalty for this offence is either:
- A fixed charge fine of €140, or
- The maximum class D fine if the Gardaí decide to prosecute you for the offence, and you are convicted
Failure to comply with the direction of gardai
It is an offence if you do not comply with a guard’s request to stop behaving in a way that they believe is endangering people’s safety, property or the public peace.
The garda can also ask you to “move on” to avert any potential trouble.
This means that they do not have to apply the full force of criminal law by arresting you, charging you and bringing you before the courts.
It is an offence not to follow these garda directions unless you have a reasonable excuse or lawful authority to do so.
Any person convicted of failing to comply with a Garda direction in this way is liable on summary conviction to a class D fine, or a maximum term of 6 months in prison, or both.
Wilful obstruction
It is an offence to deliberately prevent or interrupt a person or vehicle from passing freely in a public place unless you have the legal authority or a reasonable excuse to do this.
The penalty for this offence is a fine of up to €400.
While the Gardaí have no power to arrest for this offence, they can direct the person to stop the obstruction. Failure to comply with that direction is an offence.
Affray
Affray is when two or more people use or threaten to use unlawful violence towards each other, and their conduct would cause someone of reasonable firmness who was present at that place to fear for their or someone else’s safety.
The violence involved in affray must be between the two or more people involved and not directed towards innocent bystanders.
For example, affray would be where a group of people are fighting against each other in the street.
Affray can take place in a public or private place.
The offence of affray is only committed when actual unlawful violence is used.
A person convicted of affray can receive a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine, or a term of imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
