Gardaí ‘legally obliged’ to allow and protect peaceful protests

THE Irish Council for Civil Liberties is to send a letter to Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy to remind him the Garda Síochána is legally obliged to allow, and protect, peaceful protests.

The move follows concerns in the ICCL regarding the scale of the security measures being adopted by gardai in preparation for this weekend’s EU protests.

“We are very concerned that gardai, through stories fed to the media, is trying to soften up public opinion for a show down, by talking of potential violence and well planned attacks by subversives,” said Aisling Reidy of the ICCL.