Gardaí in balaclavas for housing protest was wrong, says the new Commissioner
IN a surprisingly swift move, the newly appointed Garda Commissioner told his officers that it ‘was not correct’ to wear hoods during this week’s Dublin housing protest.
Drew Harris broke with tradition to speak directly about the ongoing protests, telling the gardaí involved that hoods should only be worn with a protective helmet – if they are ‘deemed necessary’.
He said a directive has been sent to the assistant commissioner in charge to reinforce this rule.
And Josephine Feehily, the chairwoman of the Policing Authority, warned that the video and photographs of the gardaí with their faces partially covered did not inspire public confidence. The Take Back The City group criticised men ‘wearing balaclavas’ for not sporting identification, during the eviction, and the gardaí, who were also wearing ski masks, for supporting them.
However, Mr Harris also praised the officers involved, saying they ‘showed restraint in the face of physical and verbal abuse from a very small minority’.
He said: ‘At the start of this event, An Garda Síochána deployed three community policing officers to oversee the safe compliance of a High Court order.
‘As the atmosphere at the event grew more tense, a small number of public order officers were deployed to ensure public safety.
‘The use of a fire retardant hood by public order officers is a matter for the operational commander on the ground and is designed to protect the safety of our members based on a risk assessment.
‘However, the form of dress used at the event was not correct. I have requested a report from Assistant Commissioner, DMR [Dublin Metropolitan Region], to see what lessons can be learnt,’ he added.
After praising the restraint of gardaí he said one garda had suffered racist abuse.
Shortly before 7pm on Tuesday, a number of men in black balaclavas entered the property at 34 North Frederick Street to remove the housing activists. Local gardaí were deployed but, as the crowds increased and the atmosphere became more tense, a number of public order officers wearing the masks arrived.
Judge Michael Quinn had granted the owner, Patricia Ní Greil, an injunctions telling the occupiers to leave the four-storey building on August 28.
Gardaí arrested five people for public order offences, with two due in court on October 2.
A large cohort of protesters then marched to Store Street Garda Station to demand the release of the activists. The gardaí involved also faced a barrage of online criticism for wearing hoods. Take Back The City is a network of grassroots activist groups who are ‘working together to take direct action’ against Ireland’s housing crisis.
Ms Feehily said she had spoken to the Garda Commissioner about the incident.
‘They are not the kind of pictures that inspire public confidence, there’s no question about that,’ she told RTÉ News.
‘At the same time, it’s a very difficult job to do when there is a court order in place in relation to a property.
‘I had a word with the Commissioner yesterday. I’m very pleased that he issued a statement this afternoon.
‘He has acknowledged that perhaps some errors were made in relation to uniforms and so on.’
However, the main Garda union, the Garda Representative Association, has strongly defended its members.
Independent Alliance TD John Halligan said: ‘It’s dangerous for groups and others outside the gardaí to appear in balaclavas anywhere in Ireland, in any street in any town or at any house or property.’
He told his organisations pre-Dáil think-in yesterday: ‘Ordinary, everyday people would look on individuals in balaclavas as a threat.
‘But in terms of the gardaí, they are there to uphold law and order, and I’ve no problem with that.’
‘The form of dress was wrong’ Gardaí arrested five people
IN hindsight, it might have been ill advised for members of the Garda Public Order Unit to wear fire-retardant hoods that looked like balaclavas when they attended a demonstration at a court-ordered eviction in Dublin on Tuesday evening.
The history of the balaclava on this island is not something we care to remember, and someone in authority really should have realised how those images would be perceived. Nonetheless, it is important that we ask why the gardaí in question felt they had to dress in such a fashion.
Clearly, they had concerns about being identified, and rightly so.
We live in a connected world, one in which almost every citizen has a camera in his or her pocket, and there have been many instances before of gardaí being publicly named on social media.
During the water charge protests in particular, protesters regularly photographed meter installers and gardaí alike and put the pictures on Facebook and Twitter, with the clear aim of subjecting them to intimidation.
In the circumstances, it is perfectly understandable that gardaí might be wary of the consequences to themselves or their families for simply doing their jobs, and that is an unpleasant and disturbing development we at least have to consider, and perhaps imaginatively tackle.
We also have to look to the role of the new Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris.
In the wake of the incident, there was a kneejerk reaction blaming him for the introduction of what many called RUCstyle policing, on only his second week in the job. As it happens, he was not even aware of how the Public Order Unit would be dressed, and simply was not around long enough to have ordered it.
Following the incident, he yesterday came out and said the gardaí should not have covered their faces, and for that he should be lauded, not criticised.
For years, the top brass in the Phoenix Park have defended An Garda Síochána against every charge of misconduct levelled at the force, revealing an institutionalised resistance to criticism of any kind.
What Commissioner Harris proved yesterday is how wise a move it was to seek an outsider for the position left vacant by Nóirín O’Sullivan.
The new Garda chief’s prompt and very welcome clarification came as a breath of fresh air, and it augurs well, despite what might seem like a setback, for a much more open and transparent future that will ultimately restore the badly damaged trust of the public in those charged with protecting them.