[Mr. Rabbitte   ]
Were the Garda numbers sufficient to cope with the threat? According to the secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Mr. Stone, the Garda authorities decided to police the protest on the cheap, with the result that at 2 p.m. Garda chiefs were ringing Kells and Tullamore in the search for reinforcements. For example, I am informed that the superintendent at Store Street made a plea in advance of the demonstration for extra manpower, but the plea was refused. How was it that gardaí in ordinary uniforms and without protective gear of any description found themselves at the front line — especially in the early part of the proceedings — and defenceless against the hail of missiles to which they were subjected? How was it that greater efforts were not made to secure what amounts to a massive building site on the upper part of O’Connell Street? This was surely one of the most serious errors made, as it provided virtually an arsenal of additional weapons for those involved? Were the tactics used by the Garda the most effective for containing the violence once it started? Was it wise, as appears to have happened, to try simply to push the rioters down O’Connell Street, where they were able to terrorise shoppers and inflict vast damage? I heard the Minister praise the fact that the protesters were transported from Parnell Square to outside Leinster House, but I wonder whether that was the correct thing to do. Ought they not to have been secured and safely sent on their way home? Bringing the demonstrators to Leinster House was the cause of what subsequently happened in Nassau Street and South Frederick Street, where the Minister’s party’s headquarters were subjected to a disgraceful attack. All these questions and others must be answered comprehensively by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform — if not today as a matter of urgency — if we are not to be confronted with another potentially violent situation in our capital city. In a different context, the Minister stated: As Minister I have overall responsibility for the operation of the Garda Síochána and the criminal justice system and it is a responsibility that I take seriously. While it is correct to say that I have no direct role in investigation or prosecution of criminal offences, I certainly do have a role in oversight and political accountability in relation to the policing of the Irish State.
The Minister cannot, therefore, dodge behind any distinction between policy and operations. He cannot seek to delimit his responsibilities for what must be admitted was a debacle in security, intelligence and policing that can only inflict further damage on an increasingly fragile peace process. I hope the Minister will deal with the questions I have outlined when he responds. If he cannot deal with them today, the House must be prepared to come back to the subject when comprehensive answers are available. Mr. Cuffe: I intend to share my time with Deputies Crowe, Joe Higgins and Gregory. I compliment members of an Garda Síochána on their courage in the front line on Saturday and applaud the work they carried out. However, it must be asked whether the organisers of the Love Ulster parade really believed that marching through the streets of Dublin would further the peace process on this island. On a practical level, there were significant difficulties with the resources and intelligence that were brought to bear on Saturday’s events. The Minister said that if we want peace we should prepare for war, but I believe we should hope for the best while preparing for the worst. I do not think such preparations were made on Saturday, given that gardaí on the front line were left without the right clothing for a long period to battle missiles that ranged from rocks to wheelbarrows. With proper policing, gardaí who were not properly equipped would have been removed from the front line very quickly, but that did not happen on Saturday. I do not know what the Garda knew in advance of Saturday’s march, but I know that I was worried beforehand. Republican Sinn Féin had warned of violence and the word on the Internet was that violence could occur. The dogs on the street and the dogs in the blogs knew that there might be violence. Mobile phone text messages seem to have played their part in the rapid escalation on Saturday. Indymedia suggests that a “flashmob” was in operation on Saturday, but modern technology certainly seems to have allowed things to escalate very quickly. I am not convinced that the Garda Síochána is on top of the kind of technology that was being used in the days, hours and minutes prior to the violence. Dublin City Council does not seem to have been on top of things either. It is regrettable that missile material was available behind a fence that could simply be lifted up and pushed over by a couple of people. Failure to control the building site meant that material that could be used as missiles was not cleared away from the street. The protesters seem to have been a mixture of Republican Sinn Féin supporters, a small group of self-styled anarchists and a fairly significant group of the disaffected in Irish society. I do not for a second defend the violence that occurred, but I believe the Minister must answer questions on why these young people were so disaffected that they turned away from society. As a right-wing Minister, Deputy McDowell has lauded policies that reduce the State’s involvement in communities. Saturday’s events clearly show that the State must be involved in building up communities not through tax breaks but in social programmes. Instead of the tax breaks the Government has provided for superpubs and car parks, we need more investment in communities through FÁS, RAPID areas, education and housing. We need investment in sports facilities, parks and playgrounds rather than in horses and greyhounds. We need a change in the Government’s priorities. The social exclusion and poverty that led to the Gregory deal some 20 years ago have not gone away. The violence and riots that took place in Paris last summer resonate with what we saw on the streets of Dublin last Saturday. Mr. Mulcahy: Rubbish. Mr. Cuffe: Deputy Mulcahy thinks he knows everything. I am glad to see the intelligence of Government Deputies revealed. Mr. Sargent: That is the intelligence on which they depend. Mr. Cuffe: The underbelly of the Celtic tiger was exposed last Saturday. I urge the Minister to address the exclusion, as well as the criminality, that gave rise to the violence. Racism, bigotry and evil stalked the streets of Dublin, but there was also evidence that the State must increase its efforts to tackle social exclusion in 21st century Ireland. Mr. Crowe: The events in Dublin last Saturday were an absolute disgrace. Those who took part misused the name of Irish republicanism and nationalism, but they were anything but Irish republicans or nationalists in the real sense. They were a tiny and unrepresentative minority, a mixture of people on the fringes of micro-political groups, football hooligans and drink-fuelled opportunists, a ragbag who saw the chance to create havoc and took it. Sinn Féin has been consistent on this issue since Willie Frazer and his so-called Love Ulster and FAIR groups first emerged. While we profoundly disagree with Mr. Frazer, we chose not to oppose his group’s march down O’Connell Street, notwithstanding the fact that we believe it was deliberately provocative and insensitively organised. It is the right of all citizens of this island to march down the capital’s main thoroughfare, no matter what part of that island they live on. We also believe in people’s right to hold peaceful counter-demonstrations. However, both those rights come with responsibilities. Marchers must not engage in sectarian or abusive behaviour, and counter-demonstrators must refrain from physically engaging with them. Proper stewarding by those participating in demonstrations and by the Garda is crucial in that respect, and neither was in evidence last Saturday. Sinn Féin made clear that we wanted people to try to ignore that march. We instructed our membership not to go anywhere near it. Martin McGuinness made that very point at the Dublin Sinn Féin annual general meeting only two weeks ago. Deputy Ó Caoláin gave the Sinn Féin position on a recent episode of “Questions and Answers”. I made several statements before the march, up to the point of calling on people to desist while the rioting was in progress. Saturday’s thuggery also served to obscure debate on the real nature of Mr. Frazer’s group. Those who engaged in the violence and destruction gave them exactly what they wanted, playing into Mr. Frazer’s hands and allowing him to claim moral high ground to which he is not entitled. He has gloried in the actions of loyalist death squads and today is trying to blame the President for Saturday’s trouble. I would like to use this opportunity to defend the role of Dublin City Council which bears no responsibility for the riot. Its workers acted quickly to make the streets safe and rubble free again. It is important to point out that Saturday’s riots have no implications for the peace process. We are determined to see progress made in the coming weeks and months. For Sinn Féin, that includes reaching out to the Unionist community. Unlike those who misused our national flag last weekend, I take the tricolour’s message very seriously: unity, peace and equality between orange and green. Mr. Gregory: There is a temptation to offer expert opinion regarding what should have been done last Saturday. That is always very easy in hindsight. However, I will resist that temptation other than to state as a local representative, O’Connell Street being in the very centre of my constituency, that it is now self-evident that the most obvious error of judgment must have been the decision to allow it to be used by the marchers, given the road works, the fencing, the maze of side streets, the stockpile of ammunition and the pre-announced determination by certain elements that the loyalists should not pass certain sensitive locations. All that presented the Garda with an exceptionally difficult task. There was clearly a breakdown in intelligence gathering. I do not know who decided on the route, but I assume that the buck stops with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell. As usual, he has managed to divert attention from that fact. I strongly oppose any suggestion that this be used as an excuse to restrict in any way people’s right to protest on O’Connell Street or elsewhere in the city centre by way of by-laws, as the Taoiseach seemed to suggest. Mr. F. McGrath: Hear, hear. Mr. Gregory: I am glad to see that the motion before us reaffirms the right to peaceful protest and demonstration. I hope it means what it says. As an elected representative for the O’Connell Street area, I refer to allegations that local people were heavily involved on Saturday. Of those charged whose addresses were listed, not one was from the constituency. If that changes when others are arrested, so be it. However, at the moment, any suggestion that the north inner city was somehow partly to blame is not based on the available evidence. As my time is limited, I will briefly address the loyalist organisation FAIR. I read in The Irish Times on Saturday that Mr. Frazer, the leader of the group, is quite happy to justify loyalist sectarian murderers and that he had “a lot of time” for Billy Wright, the serial sectarian murderer and psychopath. While it may not be politically correct to say it, the individual in question appears to be far from fair. Mr. F. McGrath: Hear, hear. Mr. Gregory: The families of the innocent victims must have a right to protest and highlight their sense of loss, from whatever part of this island they hail. I only wish that those families from across the North’s divide — there were many innocent victims on both sides — and people such as the relatives of the Dublin and Monaghan bombing victims in the South might march together some day to highlight the futility of sectarian violence from whatever source. Mr. F. McGrath: Hear, hear. Mr. J. Higgins: The Socialist Party condemns those who orchestrated Saturday’s violence. It was a sectarian riot to prevent the Love Ulster group marching through Dublin. My party believes that the Love Ulster campaign is based on sectarianism and that its activities heighten sectarian divisions and encourage disunity among working class people, especially in Northern Ireland. We strongly oppose the political agenda and the activities of Love Ulster, but we recognise its right to march and protest in the centre of Dublin. The Socialist Party equally recognises the rights of others to indicate peaceful opposition to Love Ulster through disciplined protest, but they have no right to stop others marching as happened on Saturday in Dublin. My party strongly opposes the political agenda of both orange and green sectarians, whether in the North or on the streets of Dublin. Let us contrast Saturday’s disgusting scenes with those of a few weeks ago, when striking postal workers in Belfast, Protestant and Catholic, marched together up the Shankill Road and down the Falls Road in a united working class demonstration. With the many groups and individuals subjected to disgraceful violence on Saturday, I highlight violent assaults against workers, including migrant workers, in their workplaces, particularly shops, by the thugs who participated. Clearly, the Good Friday Agreement is not providing a solution. It could not do so, since it is the institutionalisation of sectarian division. Therefore, I register my dissent and formally oppose that section of the motion before us. The key task remaining is forging unity among working class people within Northern Ireland and North and South and, in so doing, ensuring all communities and individuals can live free from sectarian conflict. However, the British and Irish Governments which push neo liberal and right-wing economic agendas at the expense of those working class communities are not the ones to show the way forward in this respect. I wish to issue a strong, loud and clear warning to senior Dublin City Council officials and anyone in the Government who echoes the call made yesterday by the Dublin city manager. Effectively, he called for the right to democratically organise, protest and march in Dublin city centre to be curbed and restricted. Disgracefully, the Taoiseach echoed that call today. It is disgraceful that the hooliganism of a tiny few, who sought to curb the freedom to march on Saturday, should be seized on by city council bureaucrats to curb our freedom to march peacefully and express ourselves on a whole range of issues that concern ordinary people, workers and working class communities. All, whether it be the farming community, trade unions, community organisations or political organisations, have the democratic right to come to the centre of their capital city and show their cause. Just as working class people of Dublin, with one of their great leaders, Jim Larkin, exerted their right to bring their movement, grievances and cause on to O’Connell Street in the time leading up to and during the monumental events and struggle for justice by workers in 1913, we will not tolerate any attempts by bureaucrats or anyone else to prevent our right to demonstrate peacefully and democratically in the centre of this city of Dublin. Mr. Coveney: I wish to share my time with Deputy Kehoe. Like other Members, I condemn those responsible for turning the heart of our capital city into a riot zone last Saturday. It is unfortunate that some Members have chosen to try to switch the blame to the Garda, to politicians, to local authorities or anyone apart from the actual culprits who started the riots. I condemn those who are so bigoted and narrow-minded in their thinking that they would prevent free speech and a peaceful march by victims of IRA violence in Northern Ireland. While many may not share the political views of those in the Love Ulster movement, I had thought that Irish society was sufficiently mature to facilitate a march in our capital city of the type proposed on Saturday, along with a counter-protest — if people felt it to be necessary — but without resorting to the kind of vicious violence and brutality which we saw. It seems there was a small group of people who planned and organised affairs to ensure that the carnage was sparked off and that it continued. Thugs, fuelled with drink and easily-led disaffected youths joined in to promote havoc which caused disbelief and terror amongst onlookers going about their business in Dublin city centre, on the Saturday afternoon of a rugby international weekend. The images transmitted around the European Union and further afield bring shame on Ireland. In many ways, we have been a model of economic growth and prosperity. We have been a real success story, a maturing small democracy which many others want to copy and use as a model within the European Union. However, Saturday’s scenes sent out an awful message of intolerance and hatred. They reinforced the view among some, who do not understand the complicated nature of our peace process, that we still have far to go. Those who organised Saturday’s events have no right to call themselves republicans or Nationalists and I was glad to hear so many Members repeat that sentiment today. They brought shame on those terms. While they preach that they are fighting for a united Ireland, all they create is division and further hatred. Such people will never unite Ireland. That will only be achieved by those who can accept and promote tolerance of all strands and backgrounds on our island. I am encouraged by the isolation, since Saturday’s riots, of those responsible. Clearly they are a small and withering minority in Irish society. However, Members should be in no doubt that they are still there. We must learn some lessons from Saturday’s events. A silver lining can emerge from this dark cloud by ensuring such events will never be repeated. We must examine why so many young gardaí found themselves exposed in an unacceptable manner. There appear to have been e-mails, texts and telephone calls circulating before Saturday that warned people not to be in the city centre. We must establish why the Garda felt it was not necessary to take such warnings more seriously. Where was Garda intelligence in this respect? Members must ensure they receive a detailed report from the Garda which is not afraid to be critical. This is why I support my colleague, Deputy Jim O’Keeffe’s call for an independent assessment of the events. It should be blunt and to the point to acquire the desired constructive criticism to ensure the events of Saturday are not repeated. A balance must be struck between over-policing, or having a police state. People may well have accused us of having such a state had we overdone it on Saturday. At the same time, we must ensure people can go about their business safely and that their constitutional rights are protected, as the Minister noted in his opening statement. Lessons must also be learned from a political perspective. Those who organised this disgraceful event probably call themselves republicans of sorts. Their actions on Saturday were completely counterproductive and have handed a political victory to those they claim to oppose in Northern Ireland, by causing further division and by reinforcing a mind set among some north of the Border to the effect that Unionists and loyalists are not welcome in Dublin, the Republic’s capital city. I was glad to hear Deputy Crowe’s comments in the debate today and I hope Members will hear more comments of that nature from Sinn Féin in the future. I hope its members mean them. Members should not begin to change the nature of this debate into one on social deprivation or a lack of community or social policies on the Government’s part. This was naked and blatant sectarianism on the streets of Dublin from the Celtic jersey brigade who unfortunately also bring shame to football and to that football club. We must prepare better for such events and must ensure that we do not provide a platform for similar people to inflict the kind of damage wrought in so many areas last Saturday, or to allow it to happen again. Mr. Kehoe: First and foremost, I congratulate gardaí for their bravery and professionalism in dealing with this situation on Saturday. They found themselves in an extremely difficult situation on Saturday afternoon. Although lacking resources, a small number of gardaí put their lives at risk to protect the citizens of this State. Their actions are highly commendable and Members should consider themselves lucky to have people of such calibre in the force. However, it is unfortunate that the same level of commitment in dealing with this demonstration did not come from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell. As the political head of the Garda Síochána, the Minister must be held accountable for what happened on the streets of Dublin on Saturday afternoon. I was attending the Young Fine Gael conference when I heard and saw the live images from the streets of Dublin. It was absolutely horrific and I could not believe it could happen in my own country, especially within the centre of Dublin city. Images were broadcast across the world of a violent riot in our capital which should not have been permitted to happen. It should have been a weekend of celebration as an international rugby match was to be played and many tourists were in the city. They were frightened to witness what took place. Hopefully this will not turn them away and was a once-off event. The first issue that must be examined is the preparation and planning of such an event or march. As we have never experienced any demonstration of this kind in Dublin, surely common sense would dictate that being over-prepared, rather than under-prepared, would have been the best course of action. On Friday evening, as the Taoiseach acknowledged, the word on the street was that there would be trouble on Saturday and citizens, not belonging to any political organisation or to any republican organisation, were receiving e-mails to be off the streets in Dublin on Saturday afternoon because trouble was expected. The word even reached some taxi-drivers. A taxi-driver to whom I spoke on Thursday told me that trouble was expected on Saturday. The e-mail circulating widely was brought to the attention of the Garda by one Fine Gael councillor, which is reported in The Star newspaper today. Even at that stage, the Minister did not put any additional manpower or any necessary procedures in place to make our streets safe on Saturday afternoon. What happened on Saturday also draws attention to the under resourcing of the Garda Síochána, not only in terms of manpower. We are still waiting for the extra thousands of gardaí the Minister promised during the last general election campaign. The Garda is totally under resourced. I ask the Minister to refer in his concluding remarks to the water-cannon borrowed from the RUC in 1994 and used effectively by the Garda Síochána at the time. Mr. J. Higgins: Completely unnecessarily. Mr. Kehoe: Has the Garda such equipment? The Minister has some serious questions to answer. What did he anticipate on Saturday afternoon? Did he expect trouble? Did he speak to senior Garda management, prior to Thursday, Friday or Saturday, about the demonstration that was about to take place? Does he have plans to review procedures to deal with such demonstrations? Like my colleague, I too want to see an independent review of what happened on Saturday. I also support the motion that will come before the House this evening. Mr. O’Connor: I wish to share my brief time with my colleague, Deputy Mulcahy. Dublin can be heaven, as they say, but it certainly was not last Saturday. We all have been appalled by the scenes we saw in our city last Saturday. I speak as a native Dubliner, born and reared in this parish. I was not in the city on Saturday, but the images I saw were horrendous. I welcome the presence of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell. It is good that he has remained in the House and listened to what we are saying, and I expect that he will be able to respond. The acts of thuggery and brutality have no place in a modern democracy or on the streets of this capital city. Clearly the small minority behind the riots were intent on causing the maximum amount of destruction and if it were not for the brave actions of the men and women of the Garda Síochána, the damage and injuries inflicted on innocent Dubliners would have been even more serious. Those who resort to such acts have no place in our city and must be brought to justice. Their actions threatened people as they went about their everyday business. We have heard all those stories, read the newspapers, listened to Mr. Joe Duffy’s radio show, etc. The thugs showed complete contempt for the Garda and for anyone who happened to get in their way. It is clear there was a small minority who travelled to the city centre last Saturday with only one intention, to create mayhem. The 350 gardaí who policed last Saturday’s demonstration came under a hail of bricks, bottles, petrol bombs and other missiles, while members of the media were also subject to attacks, as were innocent shoppers and passersby. An attack on the Garda is an attack on us all and that is completely unacceptable. I wish all those injured a speedy recovery. The full resources of the law must now be used to bring those responsible to justice. There can be no excuse for what happened. Thugs have no place in our communities and I, like all Dubliners, want to see them removed from our streets. Gardaí have already started bringing those responsible to justice. I understand that almost 40 arrests were made on Saturday. I have every confidence that in the days ahead those who managed to escape will be brought to justice. I also welcome the fact that the Government has received a preliminary report, through the Minister, Deputy McDowell, on the issues arising from Saturday and will get a more detailed report in the future. It is also important to make absolutely clear that those who went on the rampage do not represent republicans or republican values. It is our duty to ensure this small violent minority does not tar our tolerant republican ideals. Those who rioted have nothing in common with the heroes of 1916. They instead share a bigoted bond with the likes of the British National Party or Combat 18. Many of my constituents were caught in the middle of this violence. Thankfully, they did not suffer injuries but it is the Garda they have to thank for this. In the days and weeks ahead, the gardaí investigating the crimes of last Saturday deserve every possible support. There can be no excuse for thuggery and no hiding place for thugs. As a Dublin based Deputy, I have every confidence in the professionalism, effectiveness and bravery of gardaí. They have, once again, placed themselves in the front-line to protect us all. This is not a time for giving in to thugs. Already there are those who want to put a question mark over our 1916 commemorations and even St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. It is clear that we must not let this minority run Dublin city. The best answer to thuggery is to continue with our plans and ensure full participation in the national events planned for the coming weeks in the heart of Dublin city. Mr. Mulcahy: I also agree with those speakers who stated Saturday was a sad day for Ireland and for Dublin. The experience of watching that was not new to me because in June 2001, when I was elected Lord Mayor, on the way to the Mansion House I was assaulted by a similar crowd protesting against water charges. On that day, despite the fact that it had been widely circulated that there would be a protest march that night, there were only one or two gardaí present. That raises the issue of the policy of the Garda on these events. To put it bluntly, I disagree with one of the phrases the Minister used in his speech, most of which I agree with. I do not believe the Garda were firm enough on Saturday but I pay tribute to all of the brave gardaí, male and female, who stood in that line and who obeyed instructions while missiles were being thrown at them and they were being abused and assaulted in the most cowardly and despicable fashion. My abiding image, and that of many Members of this House and members of the public, is of ordinary members of the Garda Síochána, not in protective clothing, standing there in line, being assaulted and being helpless in that assault. I found that galling. I found it unacceptable. Most right-thinking people in Ireland found that equally galling and unacceptable. I pay tribute to the Garda for some of its operational decisions. The decision, as the Minister stated, to stop the parade at Parnell Square was correct. To allow them to protest outside Leinster House was also a correct decision, but to lose control of O’Connell Street amounts to a failure and we must face up to this. The Minister has stated the Garda response was measured, proportionate and effective. I respectfully disagree. It was not proportionate and it certainly was not effective. It is unacceptable that any group such as this can take control of O’Connell Street, even for a short period. While I also thank the Minister, Deputy McDowell, for coming into the House and accepting full political responsibility, it is unacceptable that we, the democratically elected representatives, and the people should lose control of their premier street, even for a short time. In his policy instructions to the Garda in future, there should be a clear instruction that people should be able to go about their lawful business on O’Connell Street at all times. A number of Opposition Members have made totally contradictory statements in that regard. On the one hand, Deputy Gregory stated this group should not have paraded down O’Connell Street but, on the other, that by-laws should not be in place regarding marches down the street, which is a totally contradictory position. Deputy Cuffe advanced a complete apologia for civil disobedience. He listed a series of items which amount to a justification for civil disobedience-violence, although I accept he condemned the violence. Mr. Sargent: The Deputy was not listening. Mr. Mulcahy: The tenor of his speech was such that it could easily have been misinterpreted by people who wanted to misinterpret it. Mr. Sargent: Like the Deputy. |