GARDAÍ are investigating a gathering inside a Kerry licensed premises under Covid-19 control regulations.

The investigation followed a storm of controversy last month over the emergence on social media of images of a crowd gathered inside the pub of Danny Healy Rae TD as part of a family wedding celebration.

The gathering occurred in July at the Kilgarvan pub and it is believed up to 38 people were involved.

One of the images which emerged on social media was of the Kerry TD pulling a pint with the wedding group posed outside the bar counter.

The wedding occurred in Kerry on July 16 last.

The family wedding took place with the ceremony and reception hosted at a different location.

Controls on indoor gatherings were only eased by the Government on July 26 - some 10 days later when cafes, pubs and restaurants were able to resume limited indoor operations.

The images involved did not show anyone wearing masks while indoors.

In a statement, Gardaí warned they do not comment on individual cases or on unverified social media material.

"An Garda Síochána does not comment directly on social media content the context and veracity of which remains to be verified," a spokesperson said.

"However, An Garda Síochána are aware of images and video published online appearing to be an indoor gathering in a licensed premises."

"An investigation into this matter by Kerry Gardaí is ongoing."

Until now, the matter was the focus of what Gardaí described as "preliminary inquiries."

Gardaí stressed last month that they had not received a complaint in respect of the matter and no formal investigation was underway.

Mr Healy Rae has not commented on the matter.

The images dominated headlines last month both in Kerry and the national media.

Mr Healy Rae and his brother, fellow Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae, have been trenchant critics of the Government Covid-19 policies, particularly for the hospitality and tourism sectors.

Kerry is the most tourism dependent county in Ireland.

He recently said publicans had been “thrown to the wolves” by the latest Government guidelines on indoor dining released by Fáilte Ireland.

Mr Healy-Rae also questioned the data protection implications of the contact tracing and inspections of the Digital Covid Certificate as people enter pubs or restaurants.

“If you ring up about someone’s medical card or something, there is a huge rigmarole about data protection, but now there’s no bother in the world,” he said.