Anger in West Dublin at shooting of George Nkencho

Gillian Anyanwu from Blanchardstown during a protest at the shooting of George Nkencho at Blanchardstown Garda Station, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Anger, in its various guises, was the prevailing mood on a grey day in west Dublin.

Offended anger. Furious anger. Solemn anger.

The fallout from the killing of George Nkencho by armed gardaí on Wednesday afternoon has brought the strained situation between the gardaí and ethnic minorities in parts of Dublin to the boil.

At an impromptu protest outside Blanchardstown Garda Station, different sentiments were expressed. There was raw anger from the younger generation, those who say they have experienced the brunt of alleged intimidating treatment by gardaí. Things became heated and aggressive.

But, as the protest came to a close after nearly three hours, older people were starting to ask questions too.

Why did this happen? Would it have happened to a white person with mental health issues? Why was George Nkencho labelled a “thug” by certain parts of the media? What is to be done about how the gardaí police these communities? 

A statement from the Nkencho family early on Thursday morning said that George “was not a thug nor a criminal”.

“George was suffering from serious mental illness and those who knew him know the type of person he was,” it said.

Flowers at the entrance to Manorfields Drive, Clonee, where George Nkencho was fatally shot by gardai on Wednesday. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Greg Umeh, from the local Igbo community to which Mr Nkencho belonged, said he had never seen the 27-year-old behave in an aggressive manner. 

“The few times I met him, he was always smiling, he would always say hello. He was not a criminal, he was ill,” he said.

“As far as I can understand, George was known to gardaí, in that they had been to his premises for incidents concerning his mental health in the past.

There are many, many incidents involving people with mental health problems in Ireland, involving the gardaí. They do not all end up with someone being killed.” 

The overriding message was that something will need to be done, and an investigation by the Garda Ombudsman, GSoc, into the individual incident which saw five shots fired at George Nkencho as he allegedly wielded a knife outside his home, won’t be enough.

“We want something done about the Garda processes, the policies,” Greg Umeh said. 

Our youth are telling us that they are scared, that they are afraid to leave their homes because they are being racially profiled, picked up for no reason.” 

He said this profiling was not confined to the Blanchardstown area.

“It is happening all over, we are hearing of it constantly,” he said.

The protest did not finish at Blanchardstown Garda Station, but continued on, through the local marquee shopping centre, and on toward Hartstown, and the shop where a violent incident involving Mr Nkencho first transpired on Wednesday, one which eventually led to his death. As the march continued, it became angrier.

At about 3pm, the Eurospar in question abruptly closed its doors, with the manager present citing “an incident coming”. 

“We’ve to close for a few hours,” he informed his customers as he ushered most of them out the door. Some remained inside, trapped behind the glass as protesters rounded the corner roughly two minutes later, making straight for the storefront. 

Protestors outside Blanchardstown Garda Station on Thursday. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Those present were overwhelmingly young, mid-teens, and irate. Several Garda cars arrived on scene within seconds. One was surrounded by protesters, who fired missiles and aimed kicks at the vehicle.

There was at least one violent altercation. 

Despite the tension in the atmosphere, no arrests were made. 

From there, the crowd moved the short distance on foot towards the scene of George Nkencho’s killing, his home on nearby Manorfields Drive, where it remained in vigil as the sun went down.

One local woman described the situation as “terrifying”. 

“I’m living here all my life. My mum is in this estate, she’s completely petrified,” she said. 

We just don’t know what’s going to happen. Peaceful protest is fine, but when it goes the other way, what good is that?”

She said she didn’t believe the incident was a racial one. 

“What is an armed garda to do if he’s being attacked?" she added. 

"This isn’t about this one incident, or an individual garda, nor should it be,” said Dr Lucy Michael, a sociologist with Fingal Communities Against Racism.

She said the main problems to be seen with policing in the area stem from “not enough being done by the gardaí to deal with their bias, conscious bias, unconscious bias, and the fact we have no legislation to make racial profiling a crime here”.

Molly Dumbu from Navan and Nereane Mbala from Blanchardstown at the protest for George Nkencho at Blanchardstown Garda Station, Dublin. Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

“[Garda Commissioner] Drew Harris will have to make a stand on this, GSoc won’t be enough,” she said, adding that “every child in this community knows what GSoc is”.

“How many white children in Dublin do you think know that?”

“All every well-meaning person should be asking for is justice and an end to this type of killing,” Emeka Ejezie, an Igbo community leader, said outside Blanchardstown Garda Station earlier.

“The right message is that what happened to George shouldn’t happen to anyone, regardless of race.”