LAST UPDATE | 24 Nov 2023

DREW HARRIS HAS defended the Garda policing of the early stages of the riot in Dublin last night.

The Garda Commissioner was speaking at a press conference in Garda Headquarters this morning. 

While the initial stabbing incident happened shortly after 1pm Harris claimed that order was restored in Dublin city centre at 9pm last night as senior garda managers “deployed resources”.

During the operation the Commissioner said at least one garda was seriously injured with a number of other gardaí suffering more minor injuries. 

Gardaí made 34 arrests in relation to the riots, with 32 due before court this morning.

He said the five-year-old girl remains in a serious condition as does the care worker who was also injured in the stabbing incident. 

Pressed on the Garda response, Harris claimed that gardaí could not have anticipated the events that unfolded in the city centre in the wake of the stabbing incident. 

“An Garda Síochána responded to this in an extraordinary fashion, members from across the country, not just here in the DMR (Dublin Metropolitan Region) responded and returned to duty, public order units from all over Ireland responded here to Dublin.

“More and more resources were arriving throughout the evening. But we could not have anticipated that in response to a terrible crime, the stabbing of schoolchildren and their teacher, that this would be the response,” he said. 

Harris said what happened was that groups of people “filled with hate” turned on gardaí and “hate was directed towards members of An Garda Síochána”.

He said it could not have been anticipated that the angry mob “would attempt to storm through our cordon and disrupt the crime scene and then engage in violence, looting and disorder and including some very significant criminal damage”.

“Nobody could have anticipated that when these events broke when these events started at 1.30, these awful events. And obviously we were concentrated upon the investigation. We couldn’t have anticipated that this would be the reaction,” he added. 

A number of reporters pushed back on the Commissioner at the press conference with a series of questions about the deployment of gardaí.

He was asked if there was adequate monitoring of social media to anticipate the rioters turn to violence.

“The buildup of tensions as you described on social media, we were monitoring those and we were constantly then adding to our resources that were available in DMR North Central that was an ongoing part of the operation and we did respond.

“But it has to be said that the crowds of those first protested, filled with hate and directed towards members of An Garda Shíochána were then supplemented with those who weren’t only intent upon crime, disorder and the looting of premises,” he added. 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee also defended gardaí but said that they will learn from the “very volatile situation” and that gardaí will learn from the event, and adapt their responses.

“I think it’s important to recognize that gardaí contained this, for the most part, to a very small area.

“This was [on] our main thoroughfare, I acknowledge that and I think the scenes are incomprehensible.

“They managed to contain this to a very small area. Yes, there were incidents, individual incidents which expanded out beyond the O’Connell Street area and Henry Street. But this was for the most part contained and by midnight light night, order had been restored to our city,” she added.

With reporting from Muiris O’Cearbhaill.