Garda Public Order Unit ordered to leave Coolock site before violent protests erupted
Exclusive - The Irish Mirror has established that just nine ordinary gardai were left in fear for their safety amid escalating violence at the protest site on the Malahide Road on Monday morning - after some Public Order Unit members initially assist
Public Order gardai were called off the Coolock site BEFORE the protest began - leaving just nine officers calling for backup for over five hours.
The Irish Mirror has established that just nine ordinary gardai were left in fear for their safety amid escalating violence at the protest site on the Malahide Road on Monday morning - after some Public Order Unit members initially assisted with getting workers onto the site at around 4am, but were then ordered to leave.
Sources say that as violent events then unfolded that morning, with thugs breaking onto the site and setting fire to a JCB digger, the small number of gardai left called for Public Order Unit support - but were told they wouldn’t be available for several hours.
It is understood the small number of Public Order officers had earlier been present in the early hours of the morning amid concerns that anti-asylum seeker protestors could stir trouble when their ‘Coolock Says No’ protest encampment was shut down to let workers in.
READ MORE: Two pensioners among six people charged over serious public order incident in Coolock
READ MORE: Tánaiste says 'elements' at Coolock protest were 'determined on destruction and aggression'
But we understand that the unit then left the site once workers were in - and a handful of gardai were then left to deal with the subsequent criminal break-in and fires that happened afterwards.
Sources say the small number of gardai were then urgently calling for backup from the Public Order Unit - but were told they now weren’t available until at least 2pm. Instead a call out was made for any patrol cars and gardai in surrounding areas to come and assist - pulling resources from all over the capital.
Sources say the officers left at the scene, who had started at around 7am that morning, were left calling for Public Order backup for a period of over five hours. We understand that those officers were initially told that the Public Order Unit were not available again until 2pm that day, but if they urgently needed them, they had to call control.
It is understood those calls were made, but officers were again told that the Public Order Unit wasn’t available, before they finally arrived in six vans after 12pm.
The extremely violent scenes of petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks being thrown then began, and Public Order officers eventually managed to bring about order after spraying pepper spray, forming a cordon, and making numerous arrests. Asked about this issue, Garda Headquarters did not return a comment before this article went to print.
The revelation comes as the President of the Garda Representative Association Mark O’Meara issued a statement expressing concern that gardai on the scene were left waiting for hours for support from the Public Order Unit.
The GRA would first like to commend its members who bravely stood firm at the Coolock site and to their colleagues from all over the city that came to their assistance.
"However, there was a clear delay in the deployment of the Public Order Unit which potentially exposed our members at the scene to extremely volatile and dangerous conditions for a number of hours. This was an organised operation, however, as a result of the delayed deployment of the Public Order Unit it was extremely fortunate that our members did not suffer more serious injuries than those that were sustained.
"We will now be raising this matter with the Commissioner and senior garda management and we will express serious concerns on whether lessons were learned from the incidents of last November and demand that we are better prepared for any possible future attacks. The safety of our members is paramount."
Speaking after 15 people were arrested and charged over the violent scenes yesterday, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris defended the response to the incident.
“The public order unit responded. It was operational decisions in terms of deployment, assessing the situation and then making sure that our deployment was proportionate,” he said.
We did call upon additional public order units to support the additional unit.
“We had almost 200 gardai deployed, both public order and normal uniform personnel, and that was sufficient with the disorder that we faced.”
Hundreds of anti-asylum seeker protestors lined the Malahide Road in Coolock - with some ultimately ending up in violent clashes with the Garda Public Order Unit on Monday afternoon.
Amid ugly scenes, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris visited the area and a directive was issued for officers from all over the capital to immediately deploy there - in a major effort to try and prevent a second Dublin riot.
However on arrival at the scene on the Malahide Road in the early afternoon, members of the Garda Public Order Unit were attacked by violent thugs who hurled missiles - such as bricks and fireworks at them.
In response to our queries about the issue, the Garda Press Office stated: "Almost 60 Gardaí were at the scene on the Malahide Road in Dublin 17 from mid-morning on Monday, 15th July 2024. During the course of the day, additional units, including public order units arrived to assist, and numbers amounted to over 200 personnel.
"Garda activity in relation to these events involved a graduated policing response, considering relevant legislation and public safety, with enforcement as a last resort."
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