Protesters who threw stones at gardaí or tried to set the Crown Paints factory in Coolock in Dublin alight to block its use for asylum seekers accommodation do not represent the Irish people, Taioseach Simon Harris has said.
“There is no Government communication strategy or a billboard, or an ad on the side of a bus that would have made somebody not throw a petrol bomb or set a digger on fire or throw a brick at the men and women of the gardaí,” he declared.
Speaking at the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Donegal, he went on: “Shame on every single one of those people who tried to divide our country and divide our community. We cannot allow that to happen. That’s not us. Not us. We are better than that.”
Everyone is entitled to legitimate protest: “It’s a key tenet of our democracy, and it’s something that I would always support. But what we’ve seen in recent days has not been that.
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“What we have seen has been an attempt by a relatively small number of people to engage in lawlessness, to engage in thuggery, to engage in criminal activity. That’s why there have been arrests. It’s why more than 19 people appeared before the courts,” he went on.
Meanwhile, he was quick to reject criticisms of the gardaí, who have faced accusations that they did not intervene quickly enough, or that they failed to secure the Coolock building against an arson attack.
“What I really won’t accept in any manner or means is that when people engage in lawlessness, the first line of questioning being, ‘Did the Gardai do their job?” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of the job done by the men and women of a An Garda Síochána, people who put themselves in harm’s way while others threw bricks at them, lit fires, threw petrol bombs,” he went on.
He offered support to the local community in Coolock, who have been affected by the disturbances this week. “It’s Coolock today, there’s been other places at other moments. I know this is not reflective of the community of Coolock.
“There have been local people in Coolock who have called for this to stop. I very much understand the difference between a community wishing to engage and people looking to sow division, damage social cohesion, and bring fear and mayhem to an area.
“That can’t be tolerated,” said Mr Harris, pointing out that the recently-introduced body cameras now worn by gardaí “which they didn’t previously have are a very important tool for gathering evidence”.
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