Garda Complaints Board slams May Day officers

The Garda Complaints Board has criticised the officers involved in the breaking up of a demonstration in Dublin last May, accusing them of protecting their colleagues from the rigours of the law.

At a press conference today, the complaints board said a number of Gardai avoided the consequences of their actions on May 6 because their heads were turned away from the cameras which recorded much of the violence.

The problem of identification, it said, was further frustrated by the lack of co-operation from individual gardai.

Not one of the 150 officers involved in policing the Reclaim the Streets demonstration would identify any of their colleagues, some of whom would have faced charges.

The chairman of the Garda Complaints Board said it appeared that the officers involved in the May Day operation appear to be showing more loyalty to their colleagues than to the force.

These officers who had refused to co-operate with the inquiry into the May Day violence had covered up for people who broke the law.

The board said its hands were tied in relation to the matter because it does not have the legal power to compel individual gardai to co-operate.

It added that it will be recommending the Government's planned independent garda inspectorate be given more powers in this regard when it is introduced.