Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has conceded that the force made a mistake by standing down its public order unit at the former Crown Paints site in Coolock during an anti-immigrant protest. The commissioner admitted that the decision to stand down the unit at 7am on July 15th, before serious trouble erupted, was 'not the right decision.'
GARDA Commissioner Drew Harris has conceded that the force got its tactics wrong when riots erupted at a controversial anti-immigrant protest in Dublin.
It was only at 1pm that the Public Order Unit – which has special protective equipment – was active on the ground and were able to help out their colleagues. Now, speaking after last night’s RTE Investigates programme which showed shocking physical and verbal attacks on staff at the site, Mr Harris admitted the Public Order Unit should not have been stood down.
The Commissioner, who was at Coolock station when the trouble flared, said: “I do find it very disturbing to see again, but I attended the scene on the Monday morning. The Commissioner also said a Garda investigation into the trouble at Coolock was ongoing and 34 people have already been arrested – with 26 of them being charged.
“We've yet to receive that footage, but when we do, obviously then it'll be subject to investigation. Regrettably we only became aware of this footage very recently and is now the subject of a court order. That footage has only become available or we only had an awareness of that just in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Helen McEntee also condemned the actions of the thugs caught on camera by the RTE programme.
Garda Riots Coolock Anti-Immigrant Protest Public Order Unit
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