Enemies of the state

INTELLIGENCE failures may have resulted in the gardaí being ill-prepared for Saturday’s riots in Dublin.

This led to at least 14 people being injured and an estimated €10 million being lost by city centre businesses forced to close in the face of the frightening violence.

Senior officers in charge of the policing operation for the Love Ulster parade were oblivious to the violent nature of the demonstration that appeared to have been well planned by extremist republicans.

“The intelligence that was available to us from different sources, including the PSNI, was that no high-grade protesting was going to take place,” Assistant Garda Commissioner Al McHugh said yesterday.

Opposition TDs have called on Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy to explain the flaws in intelligence that may have contributed to the policing difficulties.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said it was clear the violence had been orchestrated, stating “an organised mob” had come into the city centre “with the intention of deliberately creating mayhem”.

Yet gardaí seem at odds with this position, saying they believe the violence was random - the suggestion being they could therefore not have predicted it.

Officers knew Republican Sinn Féin had planned a “counter-march”, but expected it to be low-risk and had planned their policing operation accordingly, Assistant Commissioner McHugh said.

“Republican Sinn Féin took up their position at the top of O’Connell Street but what effectively happened was the parade was hijacked by a number of hoodlums and gangsters who came out of a lot of the local pubs - they were hell-bent on causing damage and they were armed with hammers and petrol bombs,” he added.

Mr McDowell said he didn’t want “finger-pointing”, asking people to remember who was responsible for the riots and stressing that gardaí were on the “right side of the line”.

Similarly, there was widespread praise for the manner in which the gardaí at the scene faced down the violence.

Six officers were among the 14 injured.

Senior unionists Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP and Danny Kennedy of the UUP asked Mr McDowell to thank the gardaí for their professionalism and courage.

But the lack of intelligence and seeming lack of preparation for the march has already resulted in members of the opposition calling for answers.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said gardaí “seemed ill-prepared” to deal with the violence, adding: “You would have to express surprise there was no advance intelligence of this.”

Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O’Keeffe said there was clearly “an organised conspiracy” behind the riots, while Green Party TD Ciaran Cuffe said an inquiry was essential “to address what went wrong”.

Mr McDowell will receive a preliminary report from the gardaí by tomorrow at the latest focusing on the force’s response to the riots.

A second report will focus on the perpetrators of the violence, and the ringleaders in particular, although this is expected to take several weeks, as gardaí must comb through hours of CCTV footage and prepare charges against other suspects.

Approximately 450 people and eight marching bands from the North had gathered around 12.30pm on Parnell Square, the starting point of the loyalist parade intended to honour victims of republican violence. But gardaí cancelled the event shortly after because of concern at the size of the crowd protesting against it, estimated to number at least 300.

Violence then flared, with bricks, bottles and petrol bombs hurled at gardaí. The trouble moved to Nassau Street where several cars were burnt out.

The violence continued until after 4pm, with looting also taking place. Gardaí arrested around 40 people, 13 of whom were charged with public order offences at a special sitting of Dublin District Court on Saturday night.