UNDER SIEGE
Protesters accused of intimidation as Burton is trapped in car for 2 1/2 hours
TÁNAISTE Joan Burton was trapped in her car yesterday for more than two-anda-half hours by a crowd of protesters venting their anger about water charges as they refused to let her leave the area.
Gardaí and the Public Order Unit were called in to escort Ms Burton out of Jobstown in West Dublin, where she had been attending a graduation ceremony.
The demonstrators chanted ‘shame on you’ and ‘peaceful protest’ as the Minister for Social Protection sheltered in her car.
Sources said eggs were thrown at the vehicle and it was rocked back and forth by the crowd as gardaí struggled to get a hold on the situation.
A video of the incident showed a number of scuffles breaking out between protesters and gardaí as they tried to escort the car away from the area.
Ms Burton was eventually transferred to another vehicle, which drove away amid tense scuffles. Afterwards she accused some of the protestors of ‘intimidation and confrontation’.
It is understood that the original vehicle was first blocked at about 1pm and was eventually able to leave the area at roughly 3.30pm. The Tánaiste had been giving a speech at An Cosán, a higher education college, at the graduation ceremony of
Students joined demo after graduation ceremony
students who had completed a degree in leadership and community development.
Eyewitnesses said about 10 of the students joined the protest after receiving their degree certificate at the ceremony.
Louise Dunne, one of the students who graduated yesterday, said: ‘Joan spoke at the ceremony but a lot of people in our class weren’t happy that she was chosen to speak.’
Ms Dunne, who is a Sinn Féin councillor in the area, said: ‘ A Garda advised her to leave the building due to the protesters outside but she insisted on staying to speak.
‘The protest was really peaceful at the start and they even clapped the graduates and shook our hands. When Joan left and got in her car, the protesters surrounded the car and wouldn’t let her leave.
‘The guards then took her from the car and moved her to a Garda jeep. The protesters surrounded the car again and people started coming from everywhere.’
Ms Dunne said the protest was good-humoured at first but the mood changed as more people gathered.
She said Ms Burton seemed ‘uneasy’ and ‘nervous’ during the ordeal.
A spokesman for Ms Burton said: ‘The Tánaiste was at An Cosán to attend a conferring ceremony, and the protests should not be allowed to overshadow what was a very important day for those graduates. The Tánaiste would once again like to extend her congratulations to all graduates and An Cosán for the brilliant work it is doing.’ TD Paul Murphy, of the Anti-Austerity Alliance, which organised the protest, insisted that it had been carried out peacefully. ‘It ended peacefully and it ended with them moving her from one car to another but without violence against her or the gardaí,’ he said. ‘What had been agreed between protesters and gardaí was that we would slow march the van out of Tallaght and that was what was in the process of happening… that wasn’t quick enough for them and they chose to shift her into another car and they got her out in that way. And that’s their choice.’ During the protest, Mr Murphy asked the rallying crowd: ‘If they withdraw the Public Order Unit, do we agree to let her go?’
An additional statement released on behalf of the Minister criticised Mr Murphy’s role in the protest. It read: ‘People’s right to protest peacefully is a cornerstone of any democracy, but today was far from a peaceful protest – it veered into outright intimidation and confrontation. Paul Murphy is a member of Dáil Éireann, and it’s incumbent on everybody in positions of leadership in a democracy to encourage people to behave in a peaceful way that does nothing to undermine the social cohesion of the country.’
As the protesters became increasingly agitated, at least one brick was hurled at a Garda car. A Garda spokesman said two men, aged 17 and 18, were arrested at the scene for public order and criminal damage offences.
The spokesman declined to comment on the number of gardaí who were present at the scene for ‘operational matters’.
Meanwhile, Irish Tatler magazine is facing a backlash for nam-
Joan Burton seemed ‘uneasy and nervous’
ing Ms Burton as the 2014 Woman of the Year. The award ceremony was held last week and sparked widespread criticism due to the ongoing Irish Water crisis.
A Facebook page entitled ‘Boycott Irish Tatler: Revoke Joan Burton’s award for Woman of the Year 2014,’ has notched up 219 likes in the last week.
Irish Tatler is published by Harmonia, which is owned by former Dragons’ Den star Norah Casey. Last night Ms Casey defended the decision to give the award to Ms Burton: ‘It isn’t given to her because of her policies, it’s given to her because of her achievements,’ she said.
‘We’ve been doing the awards for 14 years and every time we give a political appointment there is always a little bit of controversy. I’m not a party political person myself, but it doesn’t diminish a person’s achievements in life because they defend controversial policies,’ she added.
‘The fact is Joan Burton is the first woman in the history of the State to achieve the level of Tánaiste. The award was given to her unanimously by some of the most influential women in Ireland on the judging panel. The crowd on the night, which was mostly women in their 40s, gave her a spontaneous standing ovation.
‘I think that anybody who understands the path that Joan Burton had from her early beginnings in Stoneybatter all the way through to where she is today couldn’t deny that she is a woman who has done fantastic work in politics.’