Gardaí in riot gear clear crowds in Dublin after coming under fire from glass bottles
Members of the An Garda Siochana Public Order unit wearing riot gear and shields on Dublin's Dawson Street this evening. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
Gardaí on Saturday night sealed off some of Dublin’s main thoroughfares with officers armed with riot shields in a bid to disperse crowds that had begun gathering and prevent similar scenes to Friday night when 14 people were arrested.
A statement revealed that gardaí in the capital have been dealing with an “organised group” of youths who are engaged in persistent anti-social behaviour in Dublin.
It said that gardaí came under fire from glass bottles and other missiles on South Anne Street from a group of around 200 youths.
The statement added that gardaí deployed "soft cap” public order units with shields and dispersed crowds along South Anne Street and Dawson Street.
"An Garda Síochána's public order operation is currently ongoing," the statement added.
Gardaí in the capital have been dealing with crowds across the south of the city on Saturday evening.
Crowds were dispersed from Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar and South William Street.
Gardaí had pledged to keep a visible presence in the city centre over the weekend in a bid to curtail public order offences and stop large crowds gathering.
Earlier today Health Minister Stephen Donnelly condemned what he described as 'thuggish behaviour' in Dublin city centre on Friday night after 14 people were arrested for public order offences and one garda was injured.
Stephen Donnelly said the scenes were “completely unacceptable” and what happened in the South William Street area “was nothing short of a disgrace"
Gardaí said that while the vast majority of those socialising in Dublin were doing so responsibly, a number of public order incidents had occurred.
The incidents primarily involved large "organised groups" congregating at locations including South William Street, Stephen's Green and Temple Bar.
According to Gardaí, while interacting with a specific group at South William Street, glass bottles and other missiles were thrown at Gardaí.
Attempts to engage with the group received no positive response, An Garda Síochána said in a statement, and so uniform Gardaí supported by 'soft cap' Public Order Gardaí dispersed the group.
One Garda members sustained an injury to their leg and received hospital treatment and one patrol vehicle was damaged.
Nine adults were arrested. Six were charged with public order offences and released while two received the Adult Caution and one was released pending a summons for public order offences.
Five juveniles were arrested and released. They have been referred for Juvenile Liaison Officers.
Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central Gary Gannon said the local authority had created a “festival” atmosphere in the city centre, which "raised excitement levels".
He doesn’t believe that any single action had lit the touchpaper on the anti-social incidents.
“I don’t think there’s any one clear thing leading to another,” he said. “But Dublin City Council have been fanning the flames of tensions for a while with regard to the facilities available.”
He said that until recently there had been no public toilets available to outdoor drinkers, a situation which recently led to the closure of nearby Portobello Plaza on the Grand Canal after multiple incidents of public urination and defecation.
“Now they’ve made a big deal about the provision of a large number of public toilets, almost like they were creating a festival atmosphere on a bank holiday. It’s raised excitement levels,” Mr Gannon said.
“If this had been done months ago I don’t think we’d have had the same amount of people congregating as we saw yesterday,” he said.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu said there “needs to be a proper use of space” in the city centre.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio, Ms Chu said that she had been in the area yesterday and had seen “plenty of people who were calm and enjoying themselves”.
She said she was trying to establish the reason for the gardaí dispersing the crowd on South William Street.
“They need to keep public order, that’s their job, but I don’t think charging people needs to happen unless there was a specific indecent, and that’s what I’m trying to establish,” she said.
Mr Gannon meanwhile said that shutting off the city centre in reaction to the scenes on Friday would make no sense.
“This will settle itself down, we’re going to have outdoor dining soon, if we start cordoning off the city it’ll just fuel people’s annoyance even more,” he said.
He added that given the scenes of public disorder which presented themselves the gardaí “had no choice but to make arrests”.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said she has contacted Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about the planning he has in place to deal with such incidents.
"I am very concerned now at what we have seen over a number of weekends. The last thing we need on the streets of Dublin is the gardaí baton-charging large groups of people on the street," Ms McDonald said.
"I am concerned that there might not be a plan. I think at this point gardaí, Dublin City Council and any and all other statutory agencies need to put their heads together.
"Business people in the city are concerned that there doesn't seem to be a plan. I know young people want to be out and about, particularly when the weather is good.
"I know we need proper planning to avoid those scenes. Nobody wants a repeat of that.
"I want to speak to Drew Harris because we need to know at this stage that there is a plan, we need to know what the plan is, and we need tight communication between gardaí and Dublin City Council.
"I fear that planning hasn't be done."
Gardaí said they will maintain a significant uniform Garda presence over the weekend to patrol and manage crowds on public streets and spaces.
They have appealed to those who will be socialising outdoors, as is encouraged under the current guidelines, to consider other people using the spaces as well as local residents and businesses.
There were no major public order incidents reported in Cork, Galway and Limerick last night.
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