Comment: The only thing gardaí should be seeing over their shoulder is more gardaí

There can be no question the events of last Thursday week shocked us all to the core. The brutal assault and stabbing of innocent children and their carer on a Dublin city centre street in broad daylight, followed by the carnage that saw Dublin descend into lawless chaos for a time will live long in the memory.

Our first thought, of course, goes to the children, carer, and their families and communities thrust into a living nightmare, but from which we hope they all will fully recover.

The scenes we witnessed on the streets of Dublin on ‘Black Thursday’ have been described as a watershed moment and a battle line drawn against those with zero respect for the rule of law and those who want to push an agenda of fear and hatred towards our immigrant population.

The Minister for Justice and Meath East TD, Helen McEntee has been under intense scrutiny since the shocking events unfolded. Along with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, questions have rightfully been asked of the authorities' ability to effectively deal with the lawlessness witnessed on our capital's streets.

The Meath Chronicle understands that gardaí from Meath, an already overstretched division, were required to support their colleagues in Dublin as the riots unfolded.

Minister McEntee, speaking ahead of a Cabinet briefing last Tuesday (and before SinnFein tabled their no confidence motion) said she has asked the Policing Authority what further resources gardaí might need in order to deal with public order incidents and to review how frontline gardaí, dealing with serious public order events, can be further supported through the possible provision of non-lethal equipment, stronger vehicles, the dog unit, and clarity on the use of coercive force.

"I have asked for clarity on use of force because I don't want gardaí looking over their shoulder when they feel force is necessary."

It is a fair question to ask why these measures are only being looked at now.

We have seen numerous examples of 'protests' by far/alt-right groups that have edged into physical confrontation not least when some of the Minister's parliamentary colleagues had to run a gauntlet of ‘patriots’ outside Dail Eireann in September.

Last Monday, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald had to leave a function in Dublin's East Wall under Garda escort and a volley of abuse by protestors calling her a traitor to her country. People Before Profit TD, Gino Kelly was also confronted in Clondalkin by people aggressively demanding to know where he stood on "children being stabbed by non-nationals".

The powder keg has been lighting on the rise of these far-right activists for some time now and for the Minister and Commissioner to be seeking clarity on matters such as the use of coercive force by gardaí seems like they are playing serious catchup while worrying events overtake them, and us.

No surprise then it's given rise to the suggestion that some communities would resort to vigilantism to deal with anti-social behaviour as heard on RTE radio last week.

“Communities and the gardaí need to work collaboratively and collectively together for the greater good of peace and law and order in our city and in our country,” said Antoinette Cunningham, the general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), adding that any talk of vigilantism were "unhelpful".

“We have been raising significant concerns with the Minister for some time. We haven't seen a really robust response from her or from Government. I'm not sure we can welcome that review and not be a little bit cynical about this,” Ms Cunningham said.

Ms Cunningham pointed out that it has been seven years since the AGSI had first mentioned body cams, and five years since the issue of recruitment and retention rates had been raised.

Minister McEntee says she doesn't want gardaí looking over their shoulder when they feel force is necessary. The only thing they should be seeing over their shoulder is more gardaí and the full, unwavering support of their superior officers and the public.