Ireland is “behind the curve” in tackling intimidation and attacks on law enforcement officers, a Garda representative has said after an assault in Ballyfermot on Monday.
Two Garda cars were damaged and a garda required medical treatment after being hit by a bottle while responding to an incident in Dublin’s southwest suburb.
A video of a group who were taunting gardaí on foot or on scramblers in Ballyfermot was widely shared on social media.
President of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) Brendan O’Connor said people were “laughing at the guards” when vehicles were impounded and were “back in use” hours later when a small proportion of the overall value of the vehicle was paid to retrieve it. In other jurisdictions the vehicles were destroyed, he pointed out.
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“In this country we are just behind the curve. We don’t seem to have an individual approach and to be able to adapt as the policing environment becomes more challenging. Our members are feeling vulnerable and isolated,” Mr O’Connor said on Newstalk.
Police in other countries were also given training to deal with assaults and there was “the use of sprays to identify people who are concealing their identity”. There were things that needed to be looked at in Ireland, he said.
The incidents took place in the main at the roundabout nearby the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, where a large funeral was taking place.
Gardaí deployed a discreet policing presence in the area after receiving intelligence there may be anti-social behaviour surrounding the funeral of a young local man. After the funeral ended, most of the mourners travelled to the graveyard but a group of young people on scramblers remained behind and began driving dangerously around the roundabout near the church, causing significant damage to the grass area.
Two gardaí in an unmarked car kept a watching brief and did not intervene as per protocol as they did not have enough personnel to contain the situation. However, when a person on a scrambler nearly hit an elderly woman, the gardaí got out of their vehicle to ensure her safety.
This is when the attack started. Bottles and other objects were throw as the gardaí and one was struck in the head by a bottle which broke. Another group ran at the gardaí, forcing one to draw his baton to keep them back. The gardaí then returned to their vehicle and left the scene. The injured garda was taken to hospital for treatment.
Two men were arrested on the Kylemore Road over suspected dangerous driving, with two motorbikes seized by gardaí. The pair have since been released with a file to be sent, in both cases, to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Gardaí are concerned the incident, video of which has been shared widely online, will impact recruitment numbers which are already far below expectations.
[ Frontline gardaí: ‘We’re demoralised and under pressure... There’s zero morale’Opens in new window ]
Just 136 recruits entered the Garda training college this month, significantly less than needed to meet the commitment of recruiting over 1,000 new members this year.
Last year 109 garda resigned before retired, 107 of which were frontline gardaí.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) is to meet with Minister for Justice Simon Harris next Monday regarding violent attacks on gardaí. Representatives will renew calls for the establishment of a special task force to tackle the issue.
Mark Ferris, GRA Representative for the Dublin Metropoliton Region West said the force were facing “an exodus of officers demoralised by the entire situation”.
“Regrettably we must again address the issue of assaults on gardaí trying to uphold the peace and protecting public safety. The association condemns this latest attack on our colleague and hopes the government takes notice of events such as these and listens to our request for a the immediate formation of a special task force to research these policing issues,” Mr Ferris said.
“The Government need to step up efforts to help officers protect themselves. A small minority cannot be allowed dictate to this Government and to wider society,” he said.
There were currently not enough gardai policing the streets and gardaí also did “not have the necessary equipment,” Mr Ferris added.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Tuesday, Garda representative Mr O’Connor said the recruitment process for gardaí was proving difficult because attacks like the one in Ballyfermot were “feeding in to the perception” that the force was “not an attractive career”.
“To see those guards surrounded by such an aggressive mob is quite unsettling for anybody but especially for our members and for their families. But it lays bare for the public what the GRA have been trying to say, and calling out for over the last number of years, which is the vulnerability of our members. The lack of resources, the lack of back up and the dangerous environment that our members are working in,” he said.
It was “no coincidence” that gardaí were seeing the highest level of resignations and retirements in places in Dublin where attacks on gardaí had taken place, Mr O’Connor said.
The sharing of videos of such incidents on social media was “very concerning,” he added, saying it had the potential to “normalise these attacks”.
Speaking to The Irish Times on Tuesday, Sinn Féin councillor in Ballyfermot Daithí Doolin said the community felt “under siege” due to the actions of a small group of people who were now “holding the community and the gardaí to ransom”.
“Their behaviour is unacceptable. They cast a shadow over a funeral, a family in mourning,” Mr Doolin said.
In September last year, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee promised a long-term strategy to address problems in the Cherry Orchard area of Ballyfermot after a Garda car was rammed by youths in a stolen car. The plan was to involve more gardaí and increased investment in a range of services.
However, to date there has been “no group put together and no plan”, Mr Doolin said. There were 18 fewer Gardaí in the Ballyfermot area compared to a number of years ago.
“The lack of a plan has undermined community morale and that vacuum gets filled by violence. It’s time the Government wake up and realise this is a crisis. We’ve had enough of promises and reports, we need action”.
People Before Profit councillor Hazel de Nortúin said a discussion was also needed on social media and how it is “desensitising young people” to the serious nature of incidents like this when footage is shared on social media “and treated as a joke”.
“Everyone is condemning the attack but we need to have a discussion on why violence like this is happening and recurring,” she said.
Councillors were adamant there was plenty of youth services and “brilliant youth workers” in the area who were working with young people to “identify their issues and help them” but ultimately there was a question of “where do you send them when public services just aren’t there?” Ms de Nortúin said.
“You can have the best workers in the world but the public services across the country are lacking. There aren’t enough beds in mental health facilities if you identify mental illness or addiction as something that’s needed, there aren’t enough refuges if the domestic situation is a problem.”
The community was being neglected by government, she said, and it was having a “traumatic effect”.
“If it was happening in other areas there’d be a major crackdown, but it’s allowed to roll on here. We’re met with promises but no urgency,” Ms de Nortúin said.
In the Dáil on Tuesday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called for the Minister for Justice to provide “an active plan, including a timeline and a timeframe to address this situation”.
“It is now very, very clear that we do not have the Garda resources that’s required right across the State to keep communities and citizens safe,” she said.
“I would go so far as to say that increasingly people feel very unsafe in their own homes, on their own streets and in their own communities.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar condemned the attack and wished the gardaí involved a swift recovery, going on to defend the Government’s record on policing.
“We are investing in more gardai, we provided funding for an additional 1,000 recruits this year. Recruits enter Templemore every 11 weeks now and the total number who completed or began training last year was almost 500,” he said.
“I take confidence in knowing that a further recruitment campaign is going to be launched in the coming months and that will ensure a pipeline of suitable candidates.”
