Corkonians celebrated ‘the most and longest’ during Freedom Weekend
We do love a party.
And Cork folk had a proper excuse for a good old knees up over the weekend as Covid restrictions and the 8pm curfew were lifted across the city.
In fact, data released by the taxi company FREE NOW showed Saturday, January 22nd was the busiest day in January on record with a 250% year-on-year increase.
Cork experienced the largest increase in service demand with requests for taxis almost doubling in the Rebel County.
Corkonians also enjoyed the latest nights out with 2am being the most popular time for ride-hailing requests on the app. City centre nightlife hot spots in Dublin, Limerick and Galway came in just under Cork as the most popular drop-off locations.
‘It was our busiest day in over two years’
Meanwhile, city pub owners have been voicing their appreciation after punters returned in their droves.
The unexpected change in restrictions meant the bars and restaurants had a short timeframe to get prepared for full capacity.
At Gallagher’s Gastro Pub on Mac Curtain Street in Cork’s buzzy Victorian Quarter, Manager, Emma Gannon was grateful her staff came through and made the weekend a roaring success: “A huge thank you to our team who turned everything over in such a short time – and thank you to our customers for being so respectful and understanding while we adjust to this change.” Gannon said.
Just down the road Philip Gillivan of The Shelbourne Bar said the weekend was a record-breaker after a long lull.
“Young groups, older groups, families, and friends were all out celebrating – it was an amazing day, it was our busiest day in over two years,” he said.
