GARDAI are investigating disturbances in Tallaght, Co Dublin, early yesterday morning in which four officers were injured.
Reports that a 15 year old boy was at the centre of the incident have been disputed by local gardai.
The trouble began in the Knockmore and Killinarden estates at about 11 p.m. on Sunday after gardai responded to reports that three stolen cars were in the area.
A crowd of about 200 youths had gathered to watch the stolen cars and the two Garda patrol cars were attacked. The windscreen of one of them was smashed.
Six patrol cars were then sent into the area and one of them was rammed by a stolen car. The two gardai inside suffered back injuries.
A third garda was injured when he was struck in the leg by a brick and a woman garda was punched in the face. Four youths were arrested.
The three cars - a Nissan, a Vauxhall and a Honda - were stolen earlier in Rathmines, Terenure and Rathfarnham.
A Garda source said that the youths often used stolen cars to bait gardai, who were then targeted by youths with bricks, stones and bottles. "It was the usual bank holiday carry on," one garda said. "It happens every so often."
Yesterday some residents questioned the Garda handling of the problem. "A lot of us do sympathise with the guards," said a woman who did not want to be named. "They do come up when they get a phone call. But we need another Garda station this end of Tallaght."
A man from the area accused the gardai of ignoring the problem until it had got out of control. "Law and order will have to be enforced, both by the gardai and the courts," he said.
However, local gardai said that the response time to calls that night was about three minutes. "We're doing as much as we can, as fast as we can, with the resources we have.
Asked why gardai had not used the "stinger" device, used to stop cars by puncturing tyres, one garda said that the situation had not been appropriate. "You don't try and take out a car when there are 200 kids around."
