There has been widespread criticism after social media footage emerged showing people not complying with Covid-19 public health guidance at a venue in Dublin.

The footage, which was filmed at around 4pm in Berlin D2 on Dame Lane, shows a man with a bottle of spirits swinging from the top of a bar and pouring alcohol into the mouths of several people who are dancing below.

The person who filmed the footage told RTÉ News that when he arrived at the bar with his wife at around 3pm yesterday, some social distancing measures were being applied, with tables two metres apart and food being served.

But he said when the music got louder "social distancing disappeared" and "the atmosphere started to be crazy" and he said he left because he felt unsafe.

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Restaurateur Jay Bourke, who is involved with Berlin D2, told RTÉ News he is "absolutely mortified" at the scenes recorded at the venue.

However, Mr Bourke said he is satisfied that having reviewed the CCTV from the Berlin venue that the footage shared on social media does not fully reflect what happened in the venue yesterday.

Mr Bourke told RTÉ News that footage from inside the premises shows that for the majority of the time people were complying with public health guidelines.

He said 51 people had attended a brunch event that was held in the venue which was fully ticketed.

He said Berlin was operating at less than 20% capacity at the time, that the place was "spotlessly clean", that food was served, temperature checks and details for contact tracing were taken on arrival and social distancing was maintained.

However he said Berlin would stay closed until an internal investigation into the incident is completed.

Gardaí have said they are continuing to enforce legislation in relation to Covid-19 restrictions. But they do not comment on individual incidents.

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Restaurants Association of Ireland CEO Adrian Cummins described the scenes as "deplorable and despicable" and a "slap in the face to front-line workers who are putting their life on the line during this pandemic".

Mr Cummins said gardaí should take immediate action "to stamp out this kind of behaviour".

He said gardaí and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee need to have protocols implemented right around the country where every hospitality business is treated equally and ensuring that every business adheres to the guidelines in a "full and frank" manner.

The head of the Licensed Vintners Association has described the scenes as outrageous and appalling and said the business should be shut immediately.

Donal O'Keefe said while the premises in question is not licensed as a pub, he said the behaviour filmed there reflects badly on the hospitality sector.  

He also said garda inspections into the compliance with public health guidelines need to be wider than pubs.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly responded to the video saying people "are rightly sickened by the scenes".

In a post on Twitter he said: "The vast majority of Irish people have sacrificed a huge amount to help suppress this virus. They've shown huge solidarity. The reckless actions of a small few can have huge repercussions on everyone else."

Simon Harris, his predecessor as health minister, described the scenes as "shameful".

Now Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Mr Harris said it was: "A right kick in the gut and middle finger to everyone in our country who has worked so hard & sacrificed so much, to everyone who has lost a loved one or been sick with #Covid19, to every frontline worker and to every responsible business owner who have suffered so much."

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The Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn said such behaviour "simply cannot be tolerated" and there must be a "zero tolerance" approach from here on in.

He said exhausted healthcare workers should not have to "wake up to images like that".

Dr Glynn said people need to "double down to prevent scenes like that occurring across our society again".

He said it is no surprise that complacency has set in because the country had been dealing with the virus for six months and that it was understandable that people would slip but he said the images on social media last night were "reckless".