Gardai build up arsenal for EU presidency protests

I am surprised no one noticed this article:

'The Garda representative body has said that some peaceful protester groups will be infiltrated by others intent on violent clashes with the gardai.'

From The Sunday Times - October 12, 2003

Richard Oakley

GARDAI are being trained in the use of pepper spray, CS gas and guns that shoot bean bags before Ireland begins hosting the EU presidency in January.< /br>
The weapons are part of a non-lethal arsenal that gardai will deploy in the event of expected demonstrations from anti-globalisation activists and other protesters.

A training programme for members of the emergency response unit (ERU), an elite, highly trained squad, is to be approved shortly.

The weapons have already been tested by police in Northern Ireland as a crowd control measure during violent confrontations. They include shotgun cartridges filled with a bags of plastic beads and aerosol projectors of pepper spray.

Michael McDowell, the justice minister, granted permission for the weapons to be bought and used by the ERU earlier this year. However, the force has until now been short of experts to train them.

A Garda spokesman said a training programme is being devised and is likely to start in months. He said gardai would be trained in the use of the weapons in time for some of the main meetings being held in Ireland as a result of the EU presidency.

Some of the presidency meetings are expected to attract huge numbers of protesters. Gardai are also concerned that global anarchist groups may orchestrate street riots. Similar meetings held throughout Europe have been marred by clashes between police and protesters.

Gardai were dispatched on riot-control training with foreign police forces earlier this year. An intelligence-gathering operation is also under way to identify suspects planning to travel to Ireland.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has predicted that Ireland’s assumption of the EU presidency will attract thousands of militant anti-globalisation protesters from around the world. The Garda representative body has said that some peaceful protester groups will be infiltrated by others intent on violent clashes with the gardai.

Gardai have identified May 1 as a potential flashpoint for trouble. The government is planning huge public events to celebrate the day on which 10 new countries will join the EU.

Key international political meetings have often been focal points for violent protests. In May last year, gardai were investigated for using batons and physical force to break up a Reclaim the Streets protest. The 2001 European council of ministers meeting in Sweden was marred by three-day riots that caused damage worth ¤10m. The year before, a protester was shot and killed at a G8 meeting in Genoa.

The use of non-lethal weapons was recommended in an internal Garda report into the fatal shooting of John Carthy by gardai during a siege at his home in Abbeylara.

The bean bag shot, which will soon be introduced, does not penetrate the body but delivers a blow that temporarily incapacitates. Pepper spray can also immobilise a person when sprayed into their eyes at very close range. CS gas causes choking and can effectively break up crowds.

During its presidency of the EU, Ireland will chair meetings throughout the country, and in Brussels and Luxembourg. Ireland will also host a meeting of European and Mediterranean countries that will include Israeli and Palestinian delegates, producing an obvious potential flashpoint.

It is likely to be one of the most high-security events during Ireland’s presidency. Charlie McCreevy, the finance minister, will also host an Ecofin meeting of European finance ministers at Punchestown in his Kildare constituency.


Text of article was originally snipped by one of the IMC editorial team as it was available at the related link. The original poster then pointed out that it's only available on the web site for a limited time to non-subscribers of the (UK) Times