Irish Examiner view: Tip-of-iceberg demo in Cork city  must be peaceful

The necessary focus on averting a recurrence of the violence seen in Dublin last weekend may curtail the protest

Members of An Garda Síochána are forced to draw battons as an angry anti-lockdown protesters tried to break through errected barriers to a meeting spot at St Stephens Green in Dublin on Febraury 27. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

That peaceful protest is an important, legitimate thread of democratic participation is a truism. It must be. 

It may be absolutely predictable to underline it but the essential word in that sentence — peaceful — defines differences as polarised as night or day, as polarised as a functioning society or mayhem.