The president of the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce believes the town has suffered catastrophic reputational damage from scenes shown in a viral video.
The video showed a group of up to 50 young people drinking and dancing in the town centre in the early hours of yesterday morning, apparently breaching COVID-19 regulations.
One young man could be seen jumping on top of a former phone box that stores a defibrillator.
Another video recorded that night showed a fight in the town centre.
Paul Sherry is president of Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce.
He doesn't support proposed laws which would give gardaí powers to shut down pubs in breach of public health regulations. He describes the proposed measures as draconian.
Mr Sherry says people need to take personal responsibility for their behaviour.
The man who recorded the video on Killarney's Main Street at around 1am yesterday said the gardaí arrived around 10 minutes after he noticed the partying groups.
Gardaí are examining the video footage.
Gardaí in the town had been responding to the death of a young man on Muckross Road at around 11.40 on Saturday night.
Cllr Niall Botty O’Callaghan, whose family runs a hotel and bar in the town, says there are byelaws in Killarney forbidding the consumption of alcohol in a public place and they need to be enforced.
He welcomes an investigation to find out where the young people got the drink and why they were consuming it on the streets.
