Hill hero Vickers corrals Dublin protester
FORMER SERGEANT-AT-ARMS TAKES ON PROTESTER IN IRELAND
Brian Murphy expected to say his piece and be immediately tackled by a soldier when he began to protest at a Dublin ceremony honouring British soldiers who died fighting the Irish 100 years ago.
When he saw former Canadian sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers stand up and charge toward him instead, he admits he was confused.
“To be honest, I had no idea who he was or what his intentions were,” Murphy said in an interview from Dublin. “He’s a bulky-looking fellow.”
Vickers, hailed as a hero for shooting a gunman that stormed Parliament Hill, was once again quick to react at the first hint of trouble when he tackled Murphy during a ceremony at the Grangegorman Military Cemetery to commemorate the Easter Rising, a 1916 Irish rebellion.
During the wreath-laying ceremony, Murphy, 46, stood up and began to shout “This is an insult” before Vickers charged and forcefully swept him aside.
A Global Affairs Department spokesman said Vickers “intercepted a protester who ran up to the podium” during the invitation-only commemoration.
“Shortly after the ceremony began, an individual moved forward and began to shout,” Jennifer Bourke, a spokeswoman for Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, Charles Flanagan, said in an email.
“As the individual sought to disrupt the ceremony, Ambassador Vickers reacted instinctively to prevent the individual’s encroachment and the Gardai (Irish police) removed him from the scene. The ceremony then proceeded as planned.”
The incident garnered inter- national headlines with Britain’s Daily Mail saying, “The world’s toughest diplomat strikes again!”
Murphy, a youth and community centre manager, said Vickers was “swinging me side to side” and was completely silent during their entire scuffle, dragging him away from the ceremony.
“He moved fairly quickly all right,” Murphy said. “I was trying to hold him back from me. I wasn’t going to start a panic. It was a measured thing.
“He’s got a bit of weight,” said Murphy, adding, “I’d be a ... skinny fellow.”
Murphy said he applied for an invitation to the ceremony through Ireland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentioning that his great-grandfather, Hugh Coleman, was buried in Grangegorman military cemetery. Coleman was stationed in Halifax for years and his daughter, Murphy’s grandmother, was born there in 1901.
Murphy also had a grandfather who fought in the Easter Rising, one of the first events that eventually led to the creation of an Irish state in 1923. The six-day rebellion was squashed by the heavily armed British. Thousands of Irish people were taken prisoner and sent to internment camps, and many of the leaders who led the rebellion were executed.
Celebrating the lives of the British soldiers who died in the Easter Rising is “a step too far” and forced Murphy’s decision to protest, he said.
“The Irish government has held a number of events that I find objectionable and insulting to the men and women who fought in 1916 and fought for Irish freedom,” he said.
Murphy was charged with public order offences and released from jail. He’s scheduled to appear in court on June 21.
Murphy was also protesting on behalf of the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association (IRPWA), a group who says its aim is to provide support to republican political prisoners and their families.
In a statement after the incident, an IRPWA spokesperson said the Dublin government should demand an apology from the Canadian government because of Vickers’ behaviour.
“(Vickers’) position does not extend him to involve himself in Irish internal affairs. Not only did Mr. Vickers interfere with the right of an Irish citizen to peacefully protest in his own country he undermined the role of the Irish state and the Garda authority to deal with such protests,” the IRPWA said, claiming the ambassador “assaulted” Murphy.
Vickers, who served 29 years as an RCMP officer, was among those who responded to the Oct. 22, 2014, assault on Parliament Hill by rifle-wielding Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who died in a hail of bullets — including those fired by the sergeantat-arms from his pistol at close range.
Vickers was appointed to the ambassadorial post in January 2015.
In May 2015 Vickers used the occasion of an honorary degree ceremony at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., to describe how he woke up crying at 5:30 a.m. the day after the shooting, calling it “the loneliest moment of my life.”
Vickers was flooded with laudatory mentions on social media Thursday at news of his protest tackle in Dublin.
“Kevin Vickers is like Canadian Batman,” said one typical commenter. “Canada’s new superhero,” said another.
But a few questioned why a diplomat was taking security into his own hands at an event that was heavily policed.
“Really don’t understand the unabashed cheering of aggressive confrontation as response to peaceful protest,” said one man on Twitter.