As restaurants and pubs opened their doors this weekend in the lead up to Christmas thousands of people took to the streets to socialise with friends they hadn't seen in weeks.
Snapchat footage in Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow has emerged of the shocking moment a man attempts to climb up a 40 foot Christmas tree that is located on the main street of the town.
In the frightening video, a group of people encourage the climber as he attempts to reach the star on top of the brightly lit tree.
As he reaches the top he lets go of the tree with one hand and punches the air in victory.
Thankfully nobody was hurt in the wild incident as the mysterious man climbed back down the festive tree.
It comes as Ireland could return to lockdown for three weeks if cases spike to over 400 per day over Christmas.
The National Public Health Emergency Team has warned government that a “major increase” in socialisation could see 450 infection cases daily being diagnosed before the end of the month.
Taoiseach Micháel Martin has said he does not anticipate new restrictions before the festive period and added that this guide threshold figure was “very arbitrary.”
In a letter to government last week, NPHET claimed that it would be possible to suppress the spread of the virus with a 21 day intervention, but only if it begins as case numbers near 400 a day.
The Taoiseach said the government was not just watching the figures on new cases but also the level of hospital admissions, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions and the number of deaths when considering what restrictions to impose.
He pointed out the State was performing the best in the EU on the seven-day average of new cases.
The Taoiseach said: “We want to stay in that position, so we won’t be slow to react, but we don’t anticipate having to do it before Christmas.”
The current five-day R or reproduction number currently stands at 295.
