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Update: 13.27
THE FATHER OF the 16-year-old arrested this morning by gardaí investigating the false imprisonment of Tánaiste Joan Burton during last November’s protest in Jobstown has said his family felt ‘degraded’ by how officers handled the operation.
Ten gardaí showed up at the door of their Brookview home at around ten past seven this morning, he told TheJournal.ie.
“There was a big bang. I thought they were putting the door in.”
The father — who gave us his name, but asked that we not publish it — said three unmarked garda cars arrived at the house to carry out the arrest.
The teenager’s two older brothers were also in the house at the time, along with his father and mother.
He’s just turned 16 a week-and-a-half ago. He goes to the local school, but he’s missing it today because of this.
He said his son had been marched out of the house, and that they were told he was being taken to Tallaght Garda Station.
The teenager’s mother also asked to be taken to the station, and is still there this morning, he said.
He’s very into politics — he goes to all the meetings and marches, and he’s always watching the politicians on television, which is unusual for someone his age.
He said his son was a member of a newly-formed residents association, which was involved in initiatives to help the youth in the area.
Regarding the Jobstown protest, which saw Tánaiste Joan Burton trapped in her car for several hours by a group of angry demonstrators, he said:
He was up there at the protest. There was a lot a police and they wanted them away.
He insisted his son hadn’t done anything at the protest that would land him in trouble.
“He’s not in school now this morning because he’s in a cell now in Tallaght station,” he added.
He said the family had been shocked by the arrival of the gardaí early this morning, noting:
“They didn’t even use the knocker. They just banged loudly on the centre of the glass.
The whole thing was very degrading.
Three other people were also arrested this morning by gardaí investigating the Jobstown protest. One man is being held in Tallaght, and a man and a woman are being detained at Rathfarnham.
Anti Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy, two of the party’s councillors, and a member of republican group Éirigí were arrested in an early-morning garda operation yesterday, and questioned for several hours.
UPDATE 1.27pm: The teenager has since been released. Speaking to us this afternoon, his father said he had spoken to him and that he was “doing okay”.
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Give it to Clare Daly, I`d pay the TV licence to watch that !
Jesus she’s some barrel of laughs alright
Or else give it to labour, stop them having speaking rights :-)
If Mehole is serious about Dail reform then he needs to make sure that the next CC is impartial, fair and insists that the questions are actually answered. The last CC was a disgrace to his position..good riddance.
I reckon the only TD that would be seen both inside and outside the Dail as fair, balanced, baggage free and level headed enough to carry out the role effectively is Stephen Donnelly. But he seems lie too nice a bloke to have to deal with the rest of them.
But, yeah, I’d love to see Clare in the role for a few weeks for the craic.
perfect job for Stephen Donnelley
The pay of a Minister i believe, with a car and driver, not to be sniffed at,plus a guaranteed year as TD afterwards?
Word.
That last guy made my eyes bleed.
Finian McGrath jumps out of that list as being by the far the best for the job.
you certainly wouldn’t be surprised if SF fall out with the new CC, as I’m not surprised that they are not nominating one of their own for the job. I
Stephen Donnelly would be wasted in that role
@N why would they? There is going to be arguments but Sean Barrett was an embarrassment. Both sides need to behave.
@ Joe read the article again and reflect on your comment.
Mickey the Pink would bring style and substance to such a Cerberious role!
FC, more like a p*ssflap!
Anyone but that last bollox.
That’s what we’ll all say about the next bollox, and so will continue until a neutral CC who is not a government shield is selected by some other means.
Just happy the last pri.k is not running again
Clown Comhairle, Sean Barrett. Utter joke and shameful that he got a free ride back in.
Will be interesting to see what Barrett’s contribution will be considering he has an easy ride for the last 5 years, got paid extra for that easy ride and has had plenty of time to think about the state of the nation and his role in it.
Clown Comhairle, I like it, we may find ourselves using that in a couple of weeks
Needs to be an Independent.
Or any qualified Montessori teacher..
Indeed it does. Secret ballot or not, this position should go to someone with no party affiliations. It won’t, but it should.
Imagine selecting someone without affiliations to a position of impartiality, crazy idea. Lets select someone with 40 years of association with just one of those parties instead, that should work out!
Banish all miscreant TDs to the bold corner!
“Impose strict impartiality” The position should only be open to independent TDs. Barrett was the perfect example of what can go wrong when an individual is incapable of putting party aligence aside. Many a important, valid question went unanswered due to his shouting diwn any percived treat his party.
Give it to Michael Healy Rae. He’s returned unelected next time round giving the 3rd brother ample time to retire from the guards and run with Danny.
What, you mean come up to Dublin and actually do a bit of work for the nation that elected him. I don’t think we will be seeing much of the those two boyos in the Dail.
Think again Lazlo.
Give it to Vincent brown or twink’s dog
Criteria is usually old, male, grey and corrupt for the position so there should be quite a long list of eligible candidates.
Il do it for 1000 a week
Grammar and sentence structure!
The Journal could create a job for someone to proof read articles – it would be full time work.
Whoever wins will spend most of his time alone in an empty chamber while the rest drink us dry at the bar. Politics has failed to protect those it serves. we are back where we started only this time no private pension reserve for government to rob. Elections is seems is used to divide people.
Watching Enda Kenny giving S.B. the “wink” was blood boiling stuff!
Ha I see the link for “5 examples of when the Ceann Com hairle completely lost it at TD’s” how about something harder to find like “5 examples of when the Ceann Comhairle done his job and observed strict impartiality”
He was just a mouthpiece and bullet proof barrier for anyone with a though question for FG, especially questions that couldn’t be fobbed off by the buffoon Kenny and his Sidekick Eh eh eh can Oiii Just Saaayyyyyy Joan.
She used to wreck my head the way she put her hands behind her arse and leaned back against the wall.
Pat the Cope would be a clever strategic move for FF and FG… reduces chance of SF increasing their seats in Donegal in next election and maintains FG’s 50 seats.
You voted DDI? They’re a bigger sham than all the other parties. Running people like Tom Darcy. You should have just spoiled your vote.
I think Finnian Mc Grath seems to be the obvious choice ,unless of course he feels he can make a difference as an independent. He seems to be a fair and decent individual unlike most politicians.
We don’t need an Irish speaking person in the job. It’s a hard task without having to pay for translations with borrowed money. English is a global language and the main reason the American companies are here. People come here to learn English and what do we invest in every year Irish. €4 Billion every year borrowed to invest in Irish and Irish related projects, such a waste when our Maternity hospitals are falling down, our prisons are under resourced and our hospitals are in crises. But sure Irish is much more important than feeding and housing the homeless or investing in our young people. It’s no coincidence that the highest emigration is in Gaelteacht areas as well as the highest rate of unemployment.
There you go again with that 4 billion euro lie. Any proof to back that up?
Whether you like it or not, people have a right to speak Irish in the Dail, so having a Ceann Comhairle who can speak both is useful (so sorry I had to use three Irish words in that sentence – I hope your precious English-only eyes weren’t too offended).
If you hate Irish so much, why don’t you get off your arse and organize a campaign to repeal the status of Irish in the constitution, instead of constantly whinging here on the Journal like, to quote one of our former Taoisigh, “an old woman sitting in the bath, with the water going cold around her *anny”
And just to double back to your claim about how much is spent on Irish – most of anti-Irish brigade only claim a billion is spent on Irish – but even that is a lie, mostly calculated based on a percentage of what we pay primary school teachers….but of course, if we stopped teaching Irish tomorrow, we wouldn’t pay teachers less would we?
Vous etes rirant talleyrand No claim made on the journal needs to be backed up by a scintilla of fact or proof and the more you exaggerate the better. Donald Trump is the proof.
You wont tell me to sit down son….
Give it to Paul Murphy
If the Dáil is hung but a Ceann Comhairle has been elected, does the new CC get the exemption from running again with Seán Barratt facing the people?
Either way, no wonder there’s a scramble for the job when this Dáil won’t last 2 budgets.
Oh, imagine how much fun the Dáil would be if one of the Healy Raes got the job.
Ah look the muppets deleting posts that dont follow their narrative
Shane what’s his name
Byrne
Filan
Ross
A relatively young, Fine Gael TD such as John Deasy seeking the Ceann Comhairle position – with the automatic re-election to the 33rd Dail that comes with it – shows that Fine Gael TDs don’t have much confidence that Fine Gael won’t lose yet more seats at the next general election.
“he was automatically re-elected as Fine Gael TD for Dún Laoghaire last month.”
So whether they wanted him or not he was getting his seat?? Hardly democratic. It seems the Dail needs more reform.
Mick Wallace he’d surely let a few of them kill each other!
If it went to Howlin, would Labour lose their speaking rights?
The only one who has the capability to get the job is .Gerry Adams
“I was never, nor am i now, nor will i ever be a Ceann Comhairle, if you have any information to the contrary please take it to the PSNI or An Garda Siochana.
Sin E.
We have seen what clever dicks have held the role in the past, I doubt that even the Pope would satisfy some folks.
Why would the Pope as Cean Comhairle satisfy anybody???
If they give it to a labour td, would that mean they only have 6 td’s on thr floor and back to not having speaking rights? This would be worth its weight in gold. No more rasping from I-phone Joan.
I’ll do it as long as I can have a whistle to blow every time a deputy steps out of line.
The changing of the electoral process for the Chairman of Dail Eireann, from an open ballot to a secret ballot, is another questionable move by Enda Kenny. There is a very good reason why the votes to elect the Ceann Comhairle have historically been open and transparent, rather than secret; it is the same reason why the system to elect the Speaker of the House of Commons over in Britain has always been open and transparent. If it is public knowledge who each TD has voted for to be Chairman of Dail Eireann, it makes it impossible for such a crucial election, which is decided by only a relatively small number of people, to be fiddled.
Like most of Enda Kenny’s innovations as Taoiseach, this change to the voting process for the Ceann Comhairle is unwise, short-sighted and will likely prove a failure in the long-run. The next Government should reverse this change and restore the tried, tested and successful approach to the election of the Chairmen of Dail Eireann which our country has had up until now.
All men sigh, opportunity missed
Easy work, nobody there most of the time!
kenny will have fg vote for lowry
He won’t be there long Martin.
While clearly not a SF supporter (who acknowledges that they have some fine TD’s), the only person out of that lot that would make a good CC is – Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.
All men sigh, opportunity misses
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