Gardaí: riot lessons we must learn
Force looks at manpower equipment and tactics ahead of protest planned for St Patrick’s Day
GARDAÍ are conducting a review of last Saturday’s protest in Dublin city, which resulted in three gardaí being injured, as concerns mount ahead of an anti-lockdown protest planned for St Patrick’s Day.
A protest in Cork city yesterday ended with a handful of arrests, but without further incident following a massive policing plan.
It included closing the motorway between Dublin and Cork at three separate junctions to stop people travelling for the event.
‘There wasn’t much concern about Cork. It was expected the Cork and Galway protests would be mute enough,’ said a source.
However, gardaí are ‘concerned’ about a planned protest on St Patrick’s Day, which will see protesters meet outside RTÉ.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman has assembled a team to do a ‘lessons learned’ review of last Saturday’s Dublin protest after the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors met with the Garda Commissioner and highlighted that ‘financial considerations shouldn’t be an obstacle for policing demonstrations’.
A source told how there was a ‘massive volume of intelligence’ ahead of the protest and Superintendent Joe Gannon had a ‘comprehensive policing plan’ in place.
‘The policing operation was a massive success in that the protesters used Grafton Street to try and use members of the public as shields. That was the tactic they used and obviously the intelligence was about “soft cap” policing and incremental policing and that was done in accordance with human rights policing of events.
‘However, the issue is gardaí being injured and more boots on the ground.
‘There’s also a big desire that public order units should be deployed with shields and helmets.’
A source said that there were ‘multiple intelligence reports’ and gardaí were ‘well prepared’.
‘There was strong intelligence ahead of the protest but the GRA and AGSI want shields and helmets on standby. Soft cap is not sufficient when there are missiles and a hostile crowd.’
The far-right groups involved in the anti-lockdown protests include Justin Barrett’s Irish National Party, the Irish Freedom Party and members of the now-defunct white nationalist organisation Generation Identity.
There are also republican groups involved as well.
‘It’s a real mixed bag. But they’re militant, they’re well organised and as far as they’re concerned last Saturday’s protest was round one.
‘They brought violence to the streets and got publicity for it, so they see it as a win.’
A source told how far-right extremists are considered by Garda management as ‘one of the biggest threats to the security of the state’.
‘Far-right groups have been a big concern for Garda management for some time now and are actually considered one of the biggest threats to the security of the state right now.’
Meanwhile, a man who took footage of a firework being fired last Saturday told the MoS he was at the protest to ‘capture’ footage of what was happening. He said he saw a firework being prepared and thought ‘this could be important’.
Darren O’Toole said: ‘It’s not something I believe in, I was only there to document.
‘There was a lot of tension towards the front, but further back it was mostly people gathering to see what was going on. Most people were there for peaceful reasons, but obviously some were not.
‘It was frightening because you were thinking are there more people going to light fireworks. I was videoing to show how many people were there and what was going on and then I saw the firework and I thought I better get this, this could be important.’ Around 500 people attended the anti-lockdown protest in Cork yesterday. There was an air of tension at times, with people voicing their anger at the continuing confinement and their distrust of the government. Organiser Diarmuid Ó Cadhla refused to comment to the MoS, saying he was ‘too busy’, but
‘Far-right groups have been a big concern’
he did later speak to the crowd.
In the crowd, sisters Pamela and Katriona Mackey, Cork camogie players, told the MoS they’re looking for an ‘exit strategy and a gradual reopening’ of society. The two said they have PhDs in organic chemistry and have been reading some of the ‘top medical journals in the world’ and are ‘not conspiracy theorists’.
Paddy Bullman said the government was stripping people of their ‘basic rights’. He said he’s not denying there is a virus, but said ‘we can’t trust the numbers’. ‘All we
want is the truth.’ Another protester said: ‘We’re not having any of this. Enough is enough’.
Asked what the alternative to lockdown was, another said: ‘It
‘We’re not animals. They can’t cage us any more’
should be all over and done with. We’re not animals, they can’t cage us any more.’
People of all ages gathered on Patrick’s Street with signs that read ‘The RTÉ and Golfgate saga prove
they don’t believe Covid is lethal’ and ‘tell the truth’.
There were children in buggies and on the shoulders of their parents, people wearing masks and a lot without.
There was no attempt at social distancing and there was noticeable anger.
The crowd began to disperse after around an hour of speeches.
Over 200 gardaí were involved in the policing operation, which resulted in six people being arrested.
The Garda Press Office said last night: ‘Gardaí in Cork city division put in place an extensive and comprehensive policing plan in
light of a proposed event planned on social media.
‘Two males have been arrested in Cork city, one for a breach of 31(a)(9) Health Act 1947 and one for Public Order Offences.
Four arrests (three males, one female) have been made