Eleven arrests in a day of protests
300 officers deployed to keep the peace as gardaí feared violence at rally
ELEVEN people were arrested yesterday by gardaí during two demonstrations in the capital.
Around 1,500 people arrived in Dublin city centre to protest against the Government’s policies on housing migrants and refugees in Ireland.
The protest came 24 hours after the latest arson attack on a building which was potentially going to be used to house refugees.
That attack, which happened in the Brittas area of Dublin on Sunday, remains under investigation by the gardaí.
Officers had feared that yesterday’s protest could have sparked serious unrest on the streets.
As a result of those fears, an extensive policing plan involving 300 officers was launched in a bid to keep the peace and quell any potential flashpoints of violence or unrest.
Two separate public gatherings took place, one which assembled on O’Connell Street, and an anti-racism demonstration which assembled on Parnell Square and marched to Custom House Quay.
Uniformed gardaí were supported by colleagues from the Garda National Public Order Unit, Mounted Unit, Dog Unit and Air Support Unit, as well as divisional plain-clothes gardaí and officers from national units.
A Garda spokesman said: ‘Following the events on Custom House Quay, a small group attempted to cause further traffic disruption in Dublin city centre.
‘An Garda Síochána proactively engaged with and disrupted this group’s activity. Eleven arrests were made over the course of the policing operation this afternoon, primarily for summary offences under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.’
Speaking about yesterday’s operation, strategic commander Chief Superintendent Patrick McMenamin said: ‘Today, a significant policing operation was deployed in Dublin city centre.
‘Gardaí had to police a challenging environment with a number of public gatherings organised and attended by persons with divergent and opposing views whilst also managing the rights of citizens to enjoy the amenity that is Dublin city centre.
‘Despite the challenging environment and the intensity of opposing interactions, particularly on O’Connell Street, the events passed off primarily peacefully.’
He added: ‘I want to thank the business community and public transport companies in Dublin city centre for their support throughout the afternoon.’
Some protesters carried Irish flags, as well as signs and banners with slogans such as ‘Ireland is full’ and ‘Irish lives matter’.
Meanwhile, several hundred people attended the pro-refugee rally, which was addressed by People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett.
A large Garda presence in the centre of Dublin, including officers on horseback, acted as a line between the protests as they passed each other.
There was no major disorder although there was some disruption to public transport.
Among those who attended the pro-refugee rally was Game Of
‘I’ve seen what refugees need’
Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, 62, who has worked with a number of refugee charities. He said: ‘I’ve seen what refugees need... I’ve been a migrant.’
Referring to the anti-immigration protest, he said: ‘They are unfortunately blaming a Governmentsponsored housing crisis on migrants and refugees.
‘There is a shortage of housing, there is also over 150,000 vacant homes in this country that aren’t being used. I am down here supporting migrants and refugees.’
Regarding the latest arson attack in Brittas, gardaí are currently in the process of developing a list of persons of interest, people they believe could have either carried out the attack or could have been involved in the planning of the incident.
The Garda strategy to face down these now-common attacks on buildings has changed in recent months. The Irish Daily Mail reported earlier this year how gardaí are in the process of implementing a new strategy to tackle arson and criminal damage incidents at buildings which are going to be used by asylum seekers.
As a result of the growing number of these incidents, gardaí are now attempting to be more proactive with how they manage any potential attack.
While sources have said it’s ‘basically impossible to be everywhere at once’, the Mail understands intelligence-based policing will lead to more Garda patrols in areas which could be targeted by antimigrant activists.
Gardaí are said to be in the process of doing more to police extremely rural and remote locations which would not ordinarily have the same amount of cover
Doing more to police rural areas
as cities such as Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
While static patrols have not been entirely ruled out, it has been learned that members of the elite Special Detective Unit (SDU), who have been following many of the violent agitators, are now streamlining how their intelligence gets to local management, who will then order resources to watch different areas which could potentially be under threat.
The SDU has its own squad which collates details of extremists as well as their locations and social media accounts they are believed to either be in control of or directing.