Gardaí in Donegal and across the country have begun checking pubs to ensure Covid-19 restrictions are being followed.
Fears have arisen this week over some licensed premises and customers not been adhering to new health guidelines.
Pubs that serve food have been allowed to reopen since Monday 29th June, however gardaí in parts of the country have found that rules are being ignored.
‘Operation Navigation’ began on Friday evening, with gardaí expanding planned checks on pubs.
Pubs that break the restrictions risk being shut down and risk losing their liquor licence.
A statement from An Garda Siochana said: “Where potential breaches of the Public Health Regulations are identified, and where a person does not come into compliance with the regulations, a file is submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a direction as to how to proceed.
“In addition, under liquor licensing laws, a licensed premises requires a declaration of suitability from a member of An Garda Síochána in order for its liquor license to be renewed.”
Deputy Commissioner, Policing and Security, John Twomey said, “When licenced premises were initially shut under the public health guidelines An Garda Síochána checked thousands of licensed premises to ensure they remained closed, which the vast, vast majority did.
“Our intention in this latest phase was to conduct a large number of spot-checks of licensed premises.
“However, it now appears that just a few days after their introduction some licensed premises and their customers are ignoring the public health guidelines.
“By doing so, they are putting themselves and everyone they then come into contact with at risk of getting COVID-19. This is not acceptable and we are now expanding our planned checks.”
