Sir, – Mark O’Meara, president of the Garda Representative Association, said there was a “clear delay” in the deployment of the Garda Public Order Unit in Coolock on Monday (“Gardaí and Minister in dispute over deployment of Public Order Unit during Coolock unrest”, News, July 16th).
The same delay occurred with the Dublin riots in November 2023.
Are we surprised?
Last year more gardaí left the force than joined. Why?
View from South Africa: Ireland show how a drop can go a long way
Blast from the past – Frank McNally on the shock of a 1965 recording of the national anthem
Dublin’s Buswells hotel takes €55,000 financial hit on bookings affected by Aer Lingus cancellations
Will my daughter be liable for inheritance tax if she sells my home when I’m gone?
Young gardaí simply cannot afford to rent in Dublin and are forced into long and expensive commutes. Where do the members of our Garda Public Order Unit actually live?
If a workable solution is not found soon, then Dublin will suffer both socially and economically. – Yours, etc,
PASCHAL TAGGART,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – The photograph of the huge concrete barriers that accompanied your report on the Coolock situation (“Thirty large sites identified for use as asylum-seeker accommodation centres”, News, July 17th) illustrates clearly that we have taken a wrong turn somewhere.
Now if only the Government would erect houses as quick as they do fences and barriers, we would very soon return to the straight and narrow. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Sir, – Could not some part of the 220-acre Leopardstown Racecourse be used to house those seeking asylum here? Convenient to the Luas, shops and bus routes.
There again, it’s very close to Foxrock. – Yours, etc,
JOHN LOSCHER,
Roundwood,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – In the midst of all the furore regarding the scenes of anarchy around the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, very little attention has been paid to the rationale of accommodating 500 to 1,000 people seeking international protection in a semi-deprived area with few facilities. From many a personal visit to Woodies DIY in Coolock and the UCI Cinema across the road, there is little else in the immediate vicinity bar Power City, McDonalds and a Texaco garage. The nearest hospital is Beaumont which is almost 3km away from the proposed site.
The thought hits me that if there were a proposal to accommodate similar numbers in one location in the leafy suburbs of Dublin 4, a phalanx of lawyers rather than rioters would descend to inform Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman that he was backing up the wrong tree and in the wrong area. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL FLYNN,
Bayside,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – As an ordinary citizen, I find the thuggery in Coolock and elsewhere reprehensible. However, I am equally frustrated with the Government and political class in general who too often frame what are real societal issues associated with the management of immigration in populist terms only.
Too many TDs and even the Taoiseach use the term “right wing” and similar phrases too often and too loosely when discussing these issues in public. In doing so, they are framing what are real societal issues in polarising terms only, in part therefore fuelling more extreme reactions.
Ordinary citizens everywhere are sick and tired of it all. Those politicians using inflammatory language need to desist from using such terms so loosely and instead figure out in more sophisticated terms how to get to grips with the issues concerning everyone, and not to be a part of what is actually fuelling extreme reactions. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN NOLAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Who speaks for Coolock? Is there another option for the people there to express views and concerns other than through rioting? For whom can the people of Coolock vote when the general election comes around? Who is willing to listen to their views and represent them in the public square? Or are they condemned to perpetual rioting and civil unrest? – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY MUNNELLY,
Cabra,
Dublin 7.