Justice minister rejects claims protesters were cavity-searched

Clare O'Connor (right), from Mothers Against Genocide, taking part in a pro-Palestine demonstration outside Leinster House in Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

The justice minister has rejected claims that Gaza protesters removed from outside Leinster House were cavity-searched by gardaí.

However, the claims were repeated at the latest Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally in the city at the weekend.

Garda headquarters has insisted the treatment of the protesters last Monday was in line with the law and that an alleged “cavity search” never took place.

Speaking during a visit to Cork City on Friday, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said he was extremely concerned when the allegations were made in the Dáil.

He said following an update from gardaí, it was clear to him that the information put into the public domain by “some of my colleagues” was incorrect.

“There were not cavity searches. That’s the information I have received from An Garda Siochána. And I am dependent on what is being said to me,” he said.

“Being a member of Dáil Éireann is a great privilege and one of the great privileges you have is that you are able to say things which are not amenable to any court or to any tribunal.

“It is a huge privilege but with us comes a huge responsibility. Those allegations that were made in Dáil Éireann, the substance of them, appear to me not to be correct. I think the individuals who put them into the public domain should review what they said and consider whether they need to retract them.”

Gaza protest

Last Monday morning, 14 protesters were removed from outside Leinster House and several were arrested under the Public Order Act of 1994, for allegedly blocking the entrance to the building.

The group later alleged its members were subject to strip-searches and, in one case, a cavity search.

People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett told the Dáil on Tuesday that the protestors were “arrested violently and strip-searched”.

At the pro-Palestine rally in Cork on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Mothers Against Genocide group recounted the experience of one of the activists and said: “We are now seeing the targeting and abuse of genocide survivors.”

MC for Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Christine Chaside, appealed to gardaí to uphold their motto, “keep the people safe”, and appealed to ordinary members of the force to “reject the cynical use by the State to arrest and violently attack peaceful protesters”.

Mr O’Callaghan said if people have allegations of misconduct against gardaí, or their alleged their failure to comply with the rules in respect of searches, they have a mechanism of complaint to what was Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, now Fiosru. 

“That should be done if there was an allegation of misconduct,” he said, “but what simply should not happen is that allegations are thrown out there and then there is no backup in terms of a complaint made about garda behaviour.”

When asked if Mr Boyd Barrett should not have made the allegations in the Dáil, Mr O’Callaghan suggested that he “review” his comments.