First casualty from influx of British visitors

THE death of Mr Francis Tomlinson is the first serious assault case associated with the recent trend of groups coming from Britain for stag parties, a senior Dublin garda said.

Dublin has become a popular venue for both stag parties and hen parties from Britain.

However, some city-centre pubs have taken to putting up notices advising customers that stag groups are barred.

The Garda source said visiting groups have not been causing problems.

"As long as they behave them selves then I have no opinion on the matter. The hotels are delighted to have them, I'm sure."

The rise in the number of British people coming to Dublin on short visits followed the IBA ceasefire in 1994. The ending of the ceasefire in February 1996 did not cause a reversal of the trend, but the IRA's recent disruption campaign in Britain is affecting the traffic, according to Mr Gerry Flynn, who runs a travel business, Enjoy Ireland, in Blackburn.

The drop in the cost of travelling between Ireland and Britain was another factor in the growth in the numbers coming here.

"Weekends in Dublin are in big demand, and Dublin is jam-packed all the time," Mr Flynn said.

"The difficulty we have now is that people are going to Dublin and not meeting any Dublin people. The pubs and clubs they are visiting are now so full of visitors that the Irish atmosphere is having difficulty percolating through."

Mr Flynn also said the practice of having bouncers on the doors of Dublin city-centre pubs was creating a "negative atmosphere".

"Dublin has had a good run for the last two to three years and I think it has now peaked," he said.

Representatives of budget hotels said the visiting groups were high-spirited but well-behaved. One hotel manager, who did not wish to be identified, said the hen parties were worse than the stag parties.

"The men come back late and go to bed. The girls all go to one room and talk for hours," she said.