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GARDA COMMISSIONER DREW Harris has said an element of young drunk people are responsible for causing violent disturbances in Dublin City over the bank holiday weekend.
He also singled out the selling of take-away alcohol from licensed premises, which he said led to people drinking in public places where attacks on gardaí, criminal damage and general public disorder took place.
Speaking in Limerick today, Commissioner Harris said: “What we had last weekend was violence due to large amounts of young people, who had drink taken, some of them were very drunk, but then there was an element within that group who were intent on trouble, and causing damage and causing violence”.
“There were attacks on members of An Garda Síochána, there were assaults within groups, fighting within the crowds, and there was also criminal damage, and we have a responsibility to respond to that.”
Last weekend’s incidents were “a spontaneous gathering of those young people, and we didn’t have a control of it, and we didn’t have a means of licensing it”, Harris said.
In effect we had to deal with individuals that turned up, and the difference from the weekend before seems to be, that there was a group intent on causing harm through violence or criminal damage through the burning of bins.
“I think over the last number of weeks we’ve had a particular imbalance in the (drinks) licence industry, in that, we’ve had either carry-out drinks or carry-out pints, and licensed premises do bring an element or order and they should conduct — and the great majority well conduct their businesses, and that brings some order — and what we’ve had is not events, but just people congregating, there’s a lot of drink being taken and inevitably that has ended up then in public order difficulties that we’ve had to deal with,” he added.
Harris rejected criticism that the garda response in Dublin may have been over-reactionary.
He said gardaí were simply doing their job by responding to violent events: “I would say that our use of force and our policing tactics were appropriate to the situation that we faced, and I would reiterate that, in acting in how we did, I believe we prevented the situation from deteriorating further.”
We could already see there was damage being caused and we could see there were groups fighting amongst themselves within that crowd, and there were sustained attacks on members of An Garda Síochána through bottles being thrown.
“So, that is a situation that we can’t allow just to escalate and we can’t allow for that to continue – we have to act to preserve the peace, and to prevent crime, and that’s done in order to protect people and our own members on duty.”
Harris said people were entitled to make a complaint to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) if they wanted, adding, “every use of force is reported upon and is assessed and if members of the public wish to make complaints they can to the independent GSOC who will investigate those, and indeed we will be held to account by both the Policing Authority, and the minister”
Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys, said last weekend’s trouble in Dublin was caused by “only a small number of people” and “the majority of people who have been out and about across the length and breadth of the country have behaved in a very responsible way”.
Humphreys said she was “delighted of course that the pubs and restaurants will be open to outdoor dining, and people will have more space and more seating arrangements available to them”.
She praised the cooperation between businesses, communities, and gardaí, in managing the phased summer reopening.
The minister rejected any notion that gardaí did not have a plan in place to deal with large crowds: “I don’t agree with that, an expansive plan was put in place and it worked effectively right across the country – there were a number of instances in (Dublin) city that have been highlighted and were dealt with appropriately”.
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With only nine per cent of the street lamps being ornate, it means that DCC really don’t care about the finishing touches to or streets. Example: Stephen’s green along the Loretto stretch has fantastic architecture, but shitty looking Motorway style street lights. This is lazy and careless planning. Why not take the ornate lampposts from in front of the office blocks on Earlsfort terrace and put them on the Green, or if that’s too expensive, then get replica lamp posts for that stretch of street.
Street furniture in our key streets really should be looked at in more detail. Finishing touches to or streets, if done right can make residents feel better about their city.
What about the five lamps ?.
@itzme: go hang your bollocks on them !
@Ian Holmes: he he. Was waiting for that.
Looks lovely, clean up Dublin though and then I’ll go have a look, brought my kids into town to see the crimbo lights, two drunks kicked head off each other on packed Luas then saw a junkie on ground blood everywhere, her boyfriend saying sorry her shouting f/off, after 10 minutes my 10 year old with tears in her eyes asked why we have to see that just to see some lights, got a taxi home, never ever again
@Jeni Moriarty: never a story about Dublin without junkies blah blah blah.this is a story about street lamps and you have to shoehorn in the usual ‘i was in Dublin recently’ nonsense.
Loads of the old ones have been replaced, and been replaced badly when they could easily have been preserved. This article is mishearing. The corporation’s efforts to salvage and promote this little bit of Dublin character is pathetic as usual. There is a nice display of various old ones in Merrion square that look original.
That one on Fr Matthew Square is a real gem
Most of us genuine Dubs have pissed up against at least one of them
The one with the overhead tram cables hanging of them are lovely.
Have any of them been repainted in the past 5 years?
Last time I walked around the Customs house, the lamp standards were a mucky disgrace, & as for Bus Arus, the one time architectural gem has declined into a slum like appearance.
Don’t know who in the octopus of state bodies is responsible, but it seems nonsensical to spend tax money promoting tourism, when simple maintenance is neglected.
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