Close Encounters of the Garda kind: chopper lights up beach party

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Saturday June 12, 2004 13:47 by kahootz

A mid-summer beach party was shut down last Friday by the “guardians of the peace” supported by mechanical flying lackey Chopper.

The scene of the “crime” was White Rock, a secluded cove in Killiney about 10 miles south of Dublin city.

Revellers had gathered to celebrating the onset of summer and to mark the end of exams. And most of all because no reason is needed to have a good time.

Walking down from the road, the music slowly got louder and from a perch high above, you could see a fire and people dancing. Beautiful. Far down on the beach, people were having a whale of a time getting down and groovy.

Music wise, the party had a definite old school rave touch, with The Prodigy’s Ruff in the Jungle Bizness and SL2’s On a Ragga Tip blasting from the sound system. Funnily enough, it was ‘I got the Power’ that was pumping as bright lights shone down from the heavens. The police had arrived. F**k them and their Law, as the Prodigy had so eloquently put it.

As usual, their timing was impeccable. 4am to be precise. Why not shut down a party an hour before dawn when there is no light for the inebriated people to scale on the 50 or so steep steps back up to the Vico road?

Tactics wise, a number of people were roughed up a bit by over zealous officers.

In a scene slightly reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a beam of light came from the sky. Chopper, antihero of the Navan Road May Day debacle and of anti-war protests in Shannon, had arrived. Party goers cheered big bird as they peacefully headed onward.

One of the last bastions of resistance was on a high rock that juts out into the water. Here the last battles were fought as a hardcore few held their ground for a while. Soon they too leaving on the tide of inevitability.

The garda helicopter hovered nosily over the wider area till approximately 5.30am, no doubt waking more babies than the party on the beach far below had done.

After various interrogations of various Gardai, Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order Act) was garnered to be the legal reason behind the shutdown.

“Do you think I like doing this? I’m just doing my job.”

The site of the temporary autonomous party zone that had been created was cleaner the next day than it had been before the party.

You may kick sand on our fires but you can’t put them out.