‘Lockout’ protestors not as innocents as claimed

It’s sad when Irish people let themselves down, and last week the ‘Dáil Lockout’ protesters embarrassed us.

I have watched witness videos, and listened to first-hand accounts, and the protesters’ descriptions do not reflect the reality. As gardaí stood in front of barriers preventing protesters from blocking busy Dublin streets, they were met with verbal abuse. The ‘peaceful’ protesters heaved against the barriers, and the gardaí reacted with a containing exercise.

I heard gardaí called ‘animals’, ‘scumbags’, and the children of gardaí called ‘piglets’. I have seen many demonstrations on Kildare Street in which people exercised their right to protest by holding placards at the gates, causing no harm or traffic disruption, with no more than the usual garda presence on the gates of Leinster House.