Tension was still high at the Cruiserath Traveller site, in Mulhuddart, Dublin, yesterday, following an incident on Thursday night in which six gardai and a number of Travellers were injured.
Insp Simon O'Connor, of the Garda press office, said a Garda car from Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, was patrolling in Dunboyne, at 10 p.m. They became suspicious about a car and tried to stop the vehicle but it sped off.
The gardai called for assistance from Blanchardstown and followed the car into the Cruiserath halting site.
"A crowd gathered and started pelting the gardai with stones and blocks. The gardai called for assistance. During this time, the crowd was getting larger and they started pelting the gardai again. The gardai attempted to arrest two people, but they ran away while handcuffed and were not recaptured. The gardai then started to pull out of the campsite."
The Travellers got one of the Garda vans, stole the radio, and then petrol-bombed it, said Insp O'Connor. Three other patrol cars were damaged.
Two people were arrested and later released without charge but the matter was still under investigation, he said. Six gardai, including a female garda, were taken to hospital for treatment. One garda had a broken arm, another received 15 stitches in his back and head. The woman garda had leg and back injuries; two gardai had head sutures and one garda suffered leg and hip injuries.
Mr Ben Power, a resident on the site, said there had been a wedding earlier in the day. Gardai followed a car on to the site and arrested the driver. "That was fair enough. But the police started fighting. A lot of people were beaten up. They were swinging batons and hitting men, women and children. They hit a pregnant woman and a woman with cancer," he said. About 70 gardai were on the site at one stage, he claimed.
Insp O'Connor put the number of gardai at the scene as more than 40.
"They called us smelly knackers and burnt out our generator. We couldn't just stand by and let them do what they wanted to us. We retaliated. We were only defending ourselves," said Mr Power, who had a cut on his head.
A number of Travellers were injured but none went to hospital, he said.
Three shots were fired into the air by a detective on the road outside the site, he claimed.
Insp O'Connor has denied this. No firearms were produced or fired, he said.
Strong anti-Garda sentiments were expressed at the site yesterday.
Mr Tom Collins, a resident of Cruiserath, said Travellers would not let this matter go. "They hid us here behind a graveyard and a dump. But we're going to be heard. We're getting up and we are going to organise a protest and block O'Connell Street," he said. Mr Power said any protest would be legal.
Mr Collins said the gardai had wives and children at home. "They shouldn't be coming in here beating our women and children. They were swinging batons and hitting everybody."
Ms Elizabeth Collins, who is recovering from an operation for cancer, and is still attending Beaumont Hospital, said: "The police pushed me over. When my husband came over and said `she's ill', the garda says he doesn't care what's wrong with me."
Ms Bernadette McCann said she used to advise her sons to stay out of trouble but there was no trusting the gardai. Gardai had reversed a van into her son's caravan, she claimed. She said she grabbed a child, saving him from serious injury. The voice of the gardai was always heard but Travellers' voices were never heard, she said.