ANALYSIS:The Garda must strike a delicate balance when coping with social unrest and protests that may lurch into violence, writes TOM CLONAN
GARDAÍ IN the Dublin Metropolitan Region who will police this evening’s protest at Leinster House deal with hundreds of peaceful demonstrations yearly.
On very rare occasions, however, individuals or groups within a legitimate gathering – usually those with an alternative agenda – may engage in disruptive or violent behaviour. In such extreme cases, where events can be very fast-moving and fluid, gardaí must protect the rights of citizens to protest peacefully in a safe environment.
They face the difficult challenge of striking a balance between this right and the requirement to restore public order and ensure public safety where rioting breaks out.
Last week’s Right to Work protest saw some minor scuffles at the gates of Leinster House involving gardaí and a minority group of individuals who joined the march. There is speculation as to whether or not there will be public order disturbances at the protest outside the Dáil tonight.
While this would be atypical of the majority of Dublin protests, the Garda Síochána has had salutary experiences of rioting and public disorder within the capital. The Dublin Metropolitan Region’s experience stretches back to the early 1970s.
In February 1972, at the height of the Troubles, gardaí struggled to contain a crowd of up to 20,000 who gathered at Merrion Square and went on to burn down the British embassy. Later on, rudimentary riot gear – including clear perspex riot shields and helmets with visors – was issued in the latter part of the 1970s.
In July 1981, during the hunger strikes, gardaí, with better equipment and command and control practices, successfully contained similar riots outside the British embassy.
Over a decade later, in February 1995, the Garda’s Public Order Unit was deployed to deal with the Lansdowne Road stadium riot – orchestrated by right-wing English soccer hooligans – during an Ireland-England match. Thousands of innocent Irish and English soccer fans were evacuated during this incident.
More recently, in February 2006, serious rioting broke out on O’Connell Street during the so-called Love Ulster Parade. Gardaí were equipped with a broader spectrum of riot control equipment, including full body armour, shields and helmets, and dispersed rioters after a number of baton charges.
Predictably, images of the 2006 riots were beamed around the world, creating the impression of a far more serious incident. Contrasting with such images, the vast majority of protests in Dublin are peaceful. The volume of such protests also gives the lie to any notion that Irish citizens are more passive than our European counterparts.
A cursory analysis of Garda riot control is interesting. Unlike other jurisdictions – including Northern Ireland – gardaí have never resorted to baton rounds or gas to contain rioters. Nor have they ever called upon the Army for support in riot control. While water cannons were used in protests during Ireland’s EU presidency in 2007, gardaí have for the most part relied on minimalist approaches to crowd control involving unarmed restraint by weight of numbers and use of batons.
Gardaí at riots are subject to the same rule of law as other citizens. Their actions must be deemed to fall within the concept of “minimum force”. All actions carried out by gardaí must be justifiable, preventative and satisfy stringent legal requirements. However, the “rules of engagement” for use of force in such circumstances are reasonably liberal. Gardaí may use batons to strike protesters who threaten the safety of gardaí, other protesters or innocent bystanders. Gardaí may also use force to prevent damage to property or to disperse crowds where safety is an issue.
Tom Clonan is Irish Times security analyst