Brew Harris keeps a close eye on his latté lieutenants
SHORTLY after 10am in a coffee shop outside the temporarily heavily fortified Leinster House, five gardaí were enjoying their morning brew.
Petit Café is a popular haunt among the politicians, their staffers and the media as they go about parliamentary business.
There was an air of calm on the cordoned-off streets as the guards enjoyed a relaxed chat until an unexpected visit by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris sparked a swift mobilisation of the latte lieutenants to their designated posts.
Mr Harris’s presence outside
Leinster House on Budget Day is significant and unheard of. It illustrates the increased level of threat against politicians and the recent failings in policing outside the parliament.
Last month, far-right protesters brought a mock gallows covered with images of politicians’ faces in one of the ugliest days the Dáil has ever seen.
Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae and an intern from his office were harassed and intimidated as they exited Leinster House on Kildare Street. Other TDs, senators and political staff were trapped inside for hours due to the hostilities.
Speaking exclusively to the Irish Daily Mail, Mr Harris said gardaí were ‘prepared for every eventuality’. He said: ‘I’m only down here just to support… the members on the ground and what they’re doing, so we’re prepared for every eventuality both in terms of peaceful protest but also then making sure that there’s no disorder or that the business of the Dáil is disrupted.’ He added: ‘There’s no specific intelligence which would raise a concern today but we’ve prepared an operation just in case of any eventuality.’
Nothing was being left to chance yesterday.
A ring of steel had been erected around the Leinster House complex. All entry roads were sealed off and an eightfoot-high perimeter provided a concealed corridor for those arriving up Kildare Street.
Similar measures were in place at the rear of the complex at Merrion Square. Protesters would have had to make their voices heard from halfway down from Molesworth Street. In the end, none arrived.
The hundreds of gardaí could have spent the day sipping coffee, had their boss not been in attendance. Those hell-bent on disrupting the political process knew yesterday would not be their day and stayed at home.
It has been rosters more than coffee roasters that have been an issue for Commissioner Harris in recent weeks.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents the bulk of rank-andfile gardaí, took the unprecedented step to place and vote through a motion of no confidence in the Commissioner arising from the dispute over rosters. Asked if he can win back the support of his rankand-file members, Mr Harris responded: ‘Absolutely.’
He added: ‘We’re moving forward with the various issues that have been raised by all the staff associations; that’s been ongoing. That work has been going on for months and months... and there’s a way through then, obviously, on negotiation with rosters.
‘So we’re moving forward as an organisation.’
‘We’re moving forward’