IRISH TIMES COMMENTS ON RTS - INTERESTING READING

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday May 08, 2002 19:06 by blisset

Do you think Garda actions during Monday's "Reclaim the Streets" rally in Dublin were justified? 40% YES 60% NO

Do you think Garda actions during Monday's "Reclaim the Streets" rally in Dublin were justified?
40% YES 60% NO

Your Reaction

Corrupt!! Look at the rally, Quigleys point, the McBreaty case. These are only some that have come to light. The sooner there is an ombudsman the better!
kevyG, Donegal
The mark of a civilised society is tolerance and accomodation. Non-violent protesters should never be baton-charged. I have high regard for the Gardai but it seems that they lacked leadership and a coherent plan on this occasion.

Young men can easily be worked-up into a frenzy if they don't have proper leadership. They then over-react. A large turn-out of men just standing there passively always worked in my experience with peace-protesters in foreign lands. (I really liked them so maybe that helped). Why don't we copy all the checks and balances that the PSNI are subjected to in NI?
HibernoMoose, Canada

Yes. How else do you remove people who have seemingly nothing better to do than cause trouble and disturbance to others to make their point.

Those who insist on the right to protest should also respect the rights of others. 400 "colourful" people chanting and preventing people from going about their business is intimidation. Burning cars is intimidating.

What do people expect ? That they can be present when such behaviour is taking place and when the batons start being weilding shout " I am doing nothing !" " Police brutality"

The indignation that some of these people are pouring out on radio and in the paper reminds me of the Peace Train people who were pissed off by their train being stopped by a suspected bomb. " This should n't happen to people like us " We are nice green type people who love furry animals and are vegetarians."

The same types who appauded the gallant efforts of the same Gardai on the 18th of July 1981 on route to the British Embassy.

Different protest, different issue, different people. Let's see if any of those arrested yesterday end up with 2 years jail.
Tinapillisoittaja, Finland

The function of most members of the Garda Siochana is merely to serve as taxi-drivers for Bertie Ahern, to provide security at celebrity weddings, to attend major GAA matches knowing they won't have to actually do anything, and to beat the crap out of anyone with funny-coloured hair.

Try getting mugged at midnight on Dame Street and see how many bother coming to your help. And the Minister for Justice was a complete joke when being interviewed on Five Seven Live.

He could allegedly say EXACTLY what the protesters were doing on Burgh Quay but he didn't know anything about the later Garda actions because he "hadn't seen the footage". There is a word for this kind of behavior. It's called fascism.
Declan Swanton, Karlsruhe, Germany

You're damn right it was justified.People should have respect for the police,not to go against them for doing their job,like it or not.Everyone complains the the gardai dont do their job but how can they when every time they put a bit of athority in place it's all over the press.It's about time this country showed a bit of respect for their police force.
Pat, Galway

A typical example of a disorganised country.

For any society to function and work no matter what its rules are you need civil order. But this must be done with a police force that knows how and when to respond. This is not what the Garda know much about.

Its easy to rip each other of such as the answers indicated yesterday in the planning issue also the garda sit back and watch drivers go through red lights and drugged out kids lying in the streets of dublin (this is true I have seen it many times with my own eyes).

Yet when the garda are to get in a group such as yesterday well they're like kids in a school playground without a teacher.

If Ireland is to have any success it first needs a real police force this is where we put the money as as well with health promotion then we can have a fair system where our infrastructure and schools can be built fairly and if anyone breaks the law be it driving offences or planning fraud well then they should be brought to justice.

What the Garda done yesterday was show how badly Ireland is out of control. The country has no morale support or belief in its self and needs majkor changes in its politics to do something about it the Garda just proved this.
Martin, Sweden

The police acted correctly. However they should have used a great deal more force in order to make sure that the violent antisocial behavior typical of the street thugs who organized this attack on the rights of law abiding people would not be repeated.

Ireland is one of the most violent and criminal societies in the Western World. Some of you will disagree citing high levels of violence in the US. However most violent crime in the US targets either other criminals or poor people trapped in areas within large cities which are largely under the control of street gangs.

In Ireland you have no large inner cities and almost no organized crime to speak off. Instead you have a culture which tolerates violent behavior by any petty thug who feels like it. As a consequence the average person is far more likely to be a victim.

The whole problem is made worse by your backwards attitude to gun ownership. You will not protect your citizens and deny them the means to protect themselves. You should be grateful that at last your police force have decided to make a stand.

Any person who participates in a violent demonstration regardless whether they carry out violence themselves is a criminal and should be dealt with in the harshest possible terms. Why should ordinary people have to fear using the streets they are paying for with their taxes? Why should thugs have rights to disrupt the lives of honest people? Why should the police be denied the right to use force to make the streets safe?
RMJ, Santa Clara, CA USA