TWO GARDAÍ WHO had their garda car rammed in Cherry Orchard on Monday evening are currently off duty due to their injuries.

The incident occurred at around 7.30pm on Monday, after the Gardaí saw two cars driving erratically in the Cherry Orchard area.

“Both vehicles failed to stop when requested to do so by Gardaí and one vehicle collided with an official Garda vehicle,” said a Garda spokesperson.

The incident has since been widely condemned, with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris describing it as “disgraceful” yesterday, while General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants (AGSI) called it a “shocking incident”.

In a statement this evening, the Garda Representative Organisation (GRA) confirmed that the Gardaí involved in the incident were currently off duty following a medical assessment.

“Both Gardaí, having been medically assessed by their respective GP’s, subsequently are now off duty on medical advice due to their injuries,” said a GRA spokesperson.

“In the aftermath of this appalling incident, both Gardaí told the GRA that they were still trying to process the traumatic events, with one officer stating: ‘I’m alive, that’s the main thing. It was so daunting to see a mob baying for our car to be rammed’.”

Video footage of the event was widely shared on social media in the aftermath, with dramatic clips showing the two cars speeding up and down on both sides of the road.

After one of the cars rams the Garda car, cheers can be heard from the surrounding crowds.

This was just the latest incident in a part of Dublin once considered among the most dangerous for members of our national police force. 

Injuries of gardaí in the area have been common. Officers have received broken jaws, broken fingers and arms as well as other wounds linked to assaults. 

Resourcing of west Dublin, especially in the Ballyfermot area, has been a hot topic of discussion for gardaí and management for over a decade. 

For gardaí on the ground, it’s a case of management “giving us the resources after a bad incident and then they’ll be taken away once the pressure dies down”, according to a recently retired member.

The Journal yesterday went to the scene of the incident, with evidence of the chaos still there to be seen: glass shards littered green areas; patches of green were destroyed by fire and tyre tracks and tyre marks could be seen at the point where the young suspects performed handbrake turns.

The GRA has also said that it is aware of 15 resignations from the Ballyfermot garda district, adding that no area can sustain this level of staff loss without facing serious repercussions.

Contains reporting from Garreth MacNamee