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Spirit of Contradiction
| Gardai come under public pressure to reform. national | miscellaneous | news report  Thursday May 09, 2002 21:54 by Aj McKee aj at nevermindthebollox dot com N/A +353879252191 Higgins calls for independent Garda complaints board. In excess of three thousand people turned up outside Pearse Street Garda station, one of the counties busiest police stations to register their disgust at last Mondays events when Irish police baton charged Reclaim the Streets protesters causing serious injury to 14 people. The event, which had a wide rage of support from such organisations as GR (Global Resistance), Reclaim the Streets, Sinn Fein, The Green Part, Socialist Workers Party and Labour, passed off peacefully. There were no arrests a Garda spokesperson stated. Joe Higgins TD, from the Socialist Workers party called for a full and independent investigation into last Monday’s events. Other speakers observed that Garda training was totally lack After a number of speeches the protesters made their way up Dame Street, the scene of Garda violence on Monday, where they staged a token sit down outside Dublin’s City Hall. From there they then made their way to Dublin corporations civic office, the scene of protests in the late 70’s over the building of the offices on a Viking historical site. As the protesters moved a fellow journalists remarked to several Gardai “Smile lads its not all that bad”, which was meet by an obscene remark by a junior Garda, whom was quickly reprimanded by another colleague. Media both national and independent heavily attended the event. Many protestors brought video cameras and cameras and openly photographed Gardai whom appeared to take a relaxed attitude to the protestors. Unsurprising considering video footage of their assaults on protestors at Mondays protest was instrumental to the confinement of one officer to indoor duty. Tonight the Garda Chief commissioner, Mr. Pat Byrne faces a new and serious challenge to the policing services in Ireland and calls for his resignation. Allegations of corruption, collusion with terrorist organisations, the withholding of information regarding the Omagh bombing and police brutality have all been exposed within the past weeks. Last year there were over 1300 complaints against members of the Gardai. The Minister for Justice has asked for a report on the incident but there is increasing pressure on him to form an independent body to investigate complaints against Gardai. |
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Comments (7 of 7)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Who was the fella in whit with the bertie poster and what was his story. didn't want to move from pearse st. then again during the sit down on dame st?
And another thing why the fuck where we moved of the street at wood quay. RTS (reclaim the streets) and we move onto a green area dose that make any sense.
On Monday the protestors were attempting to make it to the green area at the civic office, when they were diverted by Gardaí around Parliament St. and up Dame St and well you know the rest...
Moving from Pearse St. to the Civic office was a symbolic gesture.
As for the guy with the Bertie poster, well idiots where attracted to this like flys around shit.
The march was good, but agai too diverse. I know this is against everything you guys stand for, but there is no way the media, government and general public will take you seriously unless you form some sort ordered group, with head dude / dudette. You have to play the game in order to end it. Just my 2C worth. Ps who took the photos any more?
Joe Higgins is the Socialist Party T.D. not repeat not the Socialist Workers Party!!
The guy with the Bertie poster was totally fucking right.
We did nothing today.
We could have burnt this city down.
We could have offed some pigs.
We done nothing today.
We are all spas.
Watch the late late tomorrow.
He might have been right but there's no excuse for being one of the most arrogant, unstable, rude and disruptive persons that I've ever met. Like a broken record, he often repeated the sentence ten or fifteen times. He tried to shout down speakers, especially while the march was moving, and I heard him at one stage demanding the megaphone ten times (because he had a right to speak - and the other thousands had the same right?).
He held a large poster obscuring the view of a huge section of the crowd and, despite repeated demands, refused to take it down.
In the most sickening action, he almost singlehandedly managed to destroy a moment of silence at the site of the original Garda baton charge.
Make up your own mind on where you agree the march should have gone - but there's no excuse that can be made for this thick shithead.
Up thats right when we've got the country on our side we should go looking for a ruck.
You're an idiot some fifteen year old who hasn't witnessed first hand police brutality. If you had you'd understand that this is a fight it's a fight about images and moral right and your suggestions that we should "burn the city down" display what you are
An ignorant fifteen year old with delusions of revolutionary zeal. Cop on