Harris and McEntee ‘too weak over threat of far right’
on Thursday night.
The revelation comes amid deep concern among Coalition leaders about an impending Sinn Féin vote of no confidence in Justice Minister Helen McEntee.
There is also growing criticism within Cabinet of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s leadership, in particularly his earlier ‘light touch’ approach to policing far-right protests.
The Garda boss is facing open criticism from some of his own officers over the policing collapse in the face of violent disorder sparked by the stabbing of schoolchildren and a woman in Dublin on Thursday.
Detective Garda Niall Hodgins, a Garda Representative Association (GRA) central executive member for Dublin North Central, said there was a ‘clear lack of leadership’ from management.
He told the MoS: ‘The dogs on the street knew what was going to happen, bar our leadership seemingly.’
Government leaders were also dismayed at the policing response to the chaotic scenes – which made headline news across Europe – when shops were looted and 13 Garda vehicles burnt out or damaged. A tram, bus and several other cars were also set alight in the worst riots seen in the capital for decades.
Behind the scenes, ministers communicated their
‘We’ll be ready if it happens again’
unhappiness with the policing response to Garda management.
Sources said Commissioner Harris agreed gardaí would participate in ‘far more aggressive policing’ on Friday night if more disturbances erupted.
Asked why this approach was not taken on Thursday night, a Cabinet source said: ‘I don’t know… but it’s going to form part of the review.’
This was a reference to a high-level inquiry into why gardaí were reluctant to confront rioters on Thursday and in earlier far-right protests.
One senior minister said they were made aware that rank-and-file gardaí – who recently overwhelmingly voted no confidence in the Commissioner – are ‘very afraid’ of being punished by bosses or investigated by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) if they use force against lawbreakers.
The Cabinet source told the MoS: ‘It was very bad for a few hours on Thursday. I believe the gardaí were very close to losing control of the city.’
The source acknowledged this was an ‘extraordinary admission’ for a senior member of Government to make.
But the minister added: ‘We’ll be ready if it happens again. The new recruits, new kit and new laws were happening anyway. The necessity to have to ask for the loan of water cannons from the North was the only thing that was not in the plan.’
Ministers confirmed it was communicated to the Garda Commissioner on Thursday night that the Cabinet wished for the ‘gardaí to get a lot tougher and intervene quicker with batons and any other tactics at their disposal’.
A source said: ‘I think, after Thursday night, gardaí will probably intervene sooner and with more force if something like this develops again. That has been agreed between the Commissioner and his political masters.
‘It was also communicated to the Commissioner, as images of our burning city were beamed out by Sky News and the BBC, as sirens blared and helicopters hovered over Government Buildings, that we wanted to see batons drawn this weekend at the sign of any trouble.’
Ministers met with gardaí at stations across Dublin city centre on Friday.
Some expressed concern that, despite having more than 400 officers on the streets and three senior members of Garda management giving instructions on the ground, gardaí appeared isolated and ‘totally unsure of what to do’.
One minister said: ‘We have been embarrassed and shamed internationally and if the passivity of gardaí, caused by fears of being prosecuted for using force against violent thugs, is part of the reason for that, then we have to remedy it quickly.’
Another Cabinet source said the Government has to accept that ‘the public has a perception that law and order has broken down and is out of control’.
They added: ‘There has to be a measured response, understanding the many difficulties in society that have contributed to this. But in the short term, the only thing to do is increase the number of gardaí and heighten the proactivity of gardaí on the streets.’
Sources said the Government accepts the messages being given to rank-and-file officers have not been correct.
A minister told the MoS: ‘I noted that the Garda Commissioner felt it necessary to communicate to gardaí that they “should not be afraid” to do what had to be done. That would say to me that gardaí on the ground were afraid.
‘It has certainly been communicated to senior gardaí that the Government was not happy with how our city was policed on Thursday.’
Despite deepening dissatisfaction with Commissioner Harris within Cabinet, ministers were talking tough in support of Ms McEntee last night.
‘We do not perceive that there is any groundswell of rebellion again Helen at the moment,’ said one of her Cabinet colleagues.
But they added: ‘If there is a repetition, there may well be a problem for her in the next few months.’
Concern is also growing across the Coalition over the positioning of a key group of Regional Independents, who usually back the Government in no-confidence votes.
Although perceived as Coalition supporters, Michael Lowry (Tipperary), Noel Grealish (Galway West) and Seán Canney (Galway East) have all voiced concerns about the direction of Government policy in recent weeks.
Asked if he would vote confidence in Ms McEntee, Mr Canney pointedly told the MoS: ‘I am reserving my position on that.’
Mr Canney added: ‘There is a real worry that what is happening in Dublin will see resources sucked out of rural Ireland. We will end up being defenceless.’
There is also concern at the position of other, more ‘neutral’ Regional Independents such as Verona Murphy (Wexford), Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway), Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth), Cathal Barry (Kildare South) and Matt Shanahan (Waterford).
Ms Murphy described the chaotic scenes witnessed in Dublin as ‘a powder keg about to blow’.
She told the MoS: ‘The lack of planning by the management in An Garda Síochána raises questions about the competency of those in charge… a blind man on a galloping horse would have seen this coming.’
Pressure on Ms McEntee further intensified after the chair of the Oireachtas Justice Committee, Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless, said he intends to call the minister and Commissioner Harris to appear.
The Kildare North TD said: ‘We need to get tough on city-centre policing. Prosecutions, convictions and zero tolerance for repeat offenders must be part of a wider law and order crackdown.’
In a statement issued yesterday evening, Ms McEntee confirmed that 48 arrests have now been made in connection with the riots.