McEntee and Harris to be invited before Justice Committee amid Dublin riot response
Cabinet ministers were also briefed late on Friday evening that gardaí will continue to be on the streets in numbers this weekend as there are fears of further trouble. Picture: Stephen Collins/ Collins Photos
Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris are to be invited before the Justice Committee by Fianna Fáil TD and Chair of the Justice Committee "to conduct a detailed analysis" of Thursday's violence in Dublin.
Fianna Fáil TD and Chair of the Justice Committee James Lawless said he will issue the invite.
"I believe the events in Dublin of Thursday night were a perfect storm of far-right hate groups organising online but also of rogue gangs of local youths who have been menacing the city centre since Covid," Mr Lawless said.
"While the issues here are complex, at least one of the solutions has to be resourcing the Gardaí including recruitment and retention issues, and proactively reclaiming the streets for ordinary, law-abiding people.
"I welcome the increased presence (of gardaí) in the capital on Friday night but that must become the norm, not the exception."
"We need to get tough on city centre policing. Prosecutions, convictions and zero tolerance for repeat offenders must be part of a wider law and order crackdown."
He also said coordination on social media platforms must also be tackled with online orchestrators facing penalties as tough as those on the ground.
Meanwhile, the justice minister has refused to resign despite mounting calls for her to step down following the riots in the centre of Dublin on Thursday night.
There was a strong garda presence in the capital on Friday night, and a number of people were arrested as smaller crowds took to the streets.
Cabinet ministers were also briefed late on Friday evening that gardaí will continue to be on the streets in numbers this weekend as there are fears of further trouble.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said damage done to public infrastructure in the city centre on Thursday could cost in the tens of millions of euros.
He said the people involved in rioting "brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland, and brought shame on their families and themselves".
He also confirmed the Government is to push through new laws around incitement to hatred, as well as fast-tracking legislation on body-worn cameras.
While he expressed his full confidence in Drew Harris, Mr Varadkar said a review would also have to be conducted in relation to what happened on Thursday.
There were 32 people — 28 men and four women — before the courts on Friday charged with a range of public order and theft offences in relation to the riots.
Ms McEntee said more arrests will be made in the coming days and gardaí are “trawling through” 6,000 hours of CCTV and social media footage.
“They're engaging with members who saw what happened and I can absolutely reassure people that not only will there be further arrests, but people will be brought before the courts and I have no doubt that many people will be imprisoned after those horrific events,” she said.
A number of gardaí were injured in the rioting, with some receiving treatment in hospital.
Seven vehicles and eight garda cars were damaged, 13 properties were attacked and three buses and a Luas tram were destroyed.
Ms McEntee defended her position and said she has not been asked to resign and will not do so.
It follows calls from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald who said she has no confidence in the minister or Commissioner Harris.
A Sinn Féin spokesman said it is too late for the party to submit a motion of no confidence in Ms McEntee for next week, but if she remains in her position, the party will consider a motion for the following week.
The Social Democrats and People Before Profit have also expressed no confidence in the minister.
Some Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbench TDs have also said they are “unimpressed” with Ms McEntee’s performance.
“We’re supposed to be the party of law and order, and what happened raises serious questions for her and garda management,” a senior Fine Gael source said.
A Fianna Fáil source said: “There are many of us within the party who are saying she has to go, but won’t say it publicly. Everyone will be fearful this will bring the Government down, and we’re not ready for an election.”
Ms McDonald said gardaí “lost control” of the centre of the capital and a “mob was allowed to shut down the centre of the city".
Defending her position, Ms McEntee said: “The only people who are responsible for the mayhem that we saw over a number of hours are the mindless thugs who took what was an awful, awful situation, an awful barbaric act against a group of small children, and use that to sow division and to wreak havoc.”
Meanwhile, Shaykh Dr Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri, Chief Imam at Islamic Centre Ireland has told the that it has cancelled all weekend classes due to the violence.
“I have just come from a meeting of 200 Muslims from all over Dublin. Women, men and children are literally shaking in fear.
“We are all affected by it the terrible riots. We had to hold a meeting on safety.
“There is genuine fear, the next three days we have all postponed weekend schools, and we are not holding classes for now, we are all being extra vigilant.
“We have advised people not to go to Dublin city for the next two to three days unless you must.
“People who are anti-immigration have exploited a tragedy and are dividing our community where we have lived for many years in peace. It is terrible to see this happening.
“I could not have imagined this. I’ve seen it all over Europe, now it is in my city, I’m really shocked.
“Anybody who is attacking children is obviously mentally not well. People how gone straight to the wrong conclusion”
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