Garda response to Dublin riots was 'not slow or inadequate', McEntee tells committee

The justice minister said it was 'a very volatile situation' and that the level of violence and looting was 'unprecedented'

Helen McEntee said that no one could have predicted the stabbing attack on Parnell Street. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Garda surveillance on far-right agitators on the day of the Dublin riots did not “fail” and the garda response on the streets to the rioting was “not slow or inadequate”, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Justice Committee this morning, Ms McEntee refused to renege on her comments describing the rioters as “scumbags”, saying: “I said what I said and I won’t take it back.”