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GARDA COMMISSIONER DREW Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee are to appear before the Oireachtas Justice Committee to address the violence and disruption on Dublin’s streets in recent days.
Gardaí have arrested 48 people in the city since Thursday and more than 30 have been called before the courts on theft and public order related charges after rioting and looting caused chaos.
Fianna Fáil TD and committee chair James Lawless invited the pair to appear “at the earliest opportunity”, describing this week’s events as “a perfect storm of far-right hate groups organising online but also of rogue gangs of local youths”.
“While the issues here are complex, at least one of the solutions has to be resourcing the gardaí including recruitment and retention issues, and proactively reclaiming the streets for ordinary, law aiding people,” he said.
“We need to get tough on city centre policing … I welcome the increased presence in the capital on Friday night but that must become the norm, not the exception.”
Both the Commissioner and the Justice Minister have been under fire in recent days, not only for the events of 23 November, but other issues within An Garda Síochána that have been mounting for years.
Some opposition parties have called for both Harris and McEntee to resign, arguing that their positions have become untenable, people feel unsafe in the city.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said: “This is not a call that was made in isolation . “In the first instance, I believe we need a change in culture.
“We need to separate the higher echelons of An Garda Síochána from the heroic efforts we’ve seen from individual guards on the street.”
In September, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) members voted overwhelmingly to express no confidence in the commissioner, after Harris pushed ahead with a controversial roster change.
Other issues cited by the union include the retention of staff, discipline processes and the feeling that gardaí are unable to engage in robust policing in response to anti-social behaviour.
Gannon believes rank-and-file gardaí have been proven right.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that there has been “a good deal of political play acting” in recent days from both opposition and government parties, but that the Minister and the Commissioner “have serious questions to answer”.
“There’s clearly been a failure when we see a breakdown of law and order in the streets of Dublin for a lengthy period of time on Thursday evening, resulting in such fear and such mayhem.”
“People want to see political leadership. They want to see a united sense of purpose to ensure our streets are safe.”
McEntee says she is “determined to maintain momentum” in garda recruitment, amid a severe staff shortage.
Following a briefing today with the Commissioner, McEntee says additional overtime has been provided to gardaí in the capital, and an additional €4.4 million has been earmarked for 95 extra garda cars and vans by the end of the year.
“I want to again be clear that the thuggery we saw on Thursday will not be tolerated and, as Minister for Justice, An Garda Síochána, including Commissioner Harris, have my full support to maintain order,” said McEntee.
“Those responsible will be brought to justice.”
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Methinks the DUP will continue to find excuses not to restart the Stormont Assembly until the next election cycle because they didn’t like the result of the last ones.
@Des Leavy: Yea agree and the DUP MPs in Westminster are riding roughshod over their own MLAs in Stormont.
You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink as the old saying goes but if he doesn’t drink he will die and I think that is what,s happening to the DUP at this stage the horse has shot himself in three of his legs so there is just one left
Can’t imagine two failed, incompetent politicians like Truss and Johnson are going to bring much to the party?
@Paul Shepherd: Truss is over to have a ganders at those “ few farmers with turnips in their trucks”!!!
@M Bowe: and Johnson probably thinks a work event so he’ll have a suitcase full of booze from Tesco….
@Paul Shepherd: I was wondering exactly the same. Two hard line Brexiteers who are along with the DUP responsible for the current mess.
Biden describes himself as Irish-American where he identifies strongly with an external Irish culture but is American nonetheless. Likewise,Varadkar and Sunak are both Indian-Irish and Indian-British on the same basis and depending on how much identify with the external Indian culture.
Neither Sunak nor Varadkar is biracial as the invalid biological notion of ‘races’ is a throwback to another era where a section of influential English society saw themselves as an Anglo-Saxon ‘race’ with an imperative to be aggressive and exterminate native cultures.
The Brexiteers are among the last of that section of their society with their total disregard for the island of Ireland along with the hapless Unionists who identify as Irish-British as they a born on the island of Ireland and identify with an external British culture.
To tackle an artificial races/racism conviction inherited from dangerous people in the 19th century is an enormous endeavour yet, almost immediately, readers can see how absurd the whole thing is. It is on this basis that people on this island both North and South move forward and influence the wider world when it comes to the invalid notion of ‘races’.
But, none can influence Donaldson and his DUP share power or engage in the process he walked out on 25 years ago.
What the DUP want is self justification and they have been consistent?
It’s a perfect example of the importance of identity.
is it a microcosm for Brexit?
The most important people here are the DUPs financial backers. The business people of NI will have the final say.
Stop paying their salaries, and that might focus their minds on getting back to work.
Varadkar sunaking up to bill for forgiveness over his paddy’s day joke gaff
@P. V. Aglue: poor syntax
The DUP don’t care about what is happening right now. They keep saying the same thing over and over again in a different words: either 100% what they want or no agreement and no power sharing.
So all those flights of important ppl back and forth are and were pointless.
@Shesh: Don’t agree because now the whole world knows what a bunch of dinosaurs the DUP really are.
As the camera pans around there’s Leo Varadkar picking his nose…
Any disccusion about bringing peace at your home punjab!
Could we just stop talking about the Political Situation in Northern Ireland for the next 100 Years, and hopefully by then the DUP might have moved an inch or so.
Our great national broadcaster can’t be bothered showing coverage of this today. Not even on its news channel. Sky news showing all the speeches live earlier. Then again, not surprised by them
Ireland england scotland all indian people this must be a first well done folks thats impressive
You know if you take the most rabid unionist and republican lock them in a container, and don’t let them out until they sort out there difference or one kills the other . Either way you would have movement.
for нот chat url1.io/s/4xY5X
@EmmaH: Are we going to talk about Leo or Rishi?
have your say