Cop Watch Special

national | crime and justice | opinion/analysis Wednesday October 11, 2006 03:07 by xtic - Shell to Sea

Peaceful protesters at the Corrib terminal at Bellanaboy have become increasingly concerned at the unlawful assaults carried out by Sgt. Conor O'Reilly.

Shell to Sea urgently requires information on this individual.

Despite there being three Garda Superintendents on duty at the Bellanaboy blockade, operational matters appear, on the ground at least, to have fallen under the personal control of Sgt. Conor O'Reilly. O'Reilly stands out from the brightly attired rank and file by wearing the garda equivalent of combat fatigues and he has been present in the Erris area for the past number of weeks.

O'Reilly has also distinguished himself in the manner in which he has conducted himself over the last number of days, but particularly on Monday morning, when he assaulted two of the protesters in plain sight of a number of his colleagues.

In one instance an individual was dragged from the crowd into a group of guards and punched by O'Reilly in the face with the comment You've been asking for this . In a second incident another protester had her arm twisted to breaking point, before O'Reilly released her. He particularly likes crushing the muscle under the arm beside the armpit, an agonising trick he may well have picked up when training with the WEGA (Wiener Einsatz Gruppe Alarmabteilung), the Viennese riot squad.

O'Reilly was responsible for a number of other assaults on Monday morning and obviously picked his victims in advance. He is clearly to be seen in the RTE news report broadcast on Monday evening, in one instance obviously losing control of the situation.

Were his actions an attempt to up the ante and to provoke peaceful protesters to a violent reaction? This was certainly the spin generated by the Garda Press Office and local Supt Joseph Gannon, who expressed concern afterwards about the new level of aggression shown by the protesters. Or is it the case that O'Reilly is a calculating coward, who carefully selects a target and then attacks when the media aren't looking?

O'Reilly's activities are clearly illegal; in the context of a peaceful demonstration where the majority of participants are not hardened activists, his actions are completely unjustifiable. O'Reilly's reputation and promotional prospects are clearly dependant on how he performs at Bellanaboy and he requires careful watching.

Shell to Sea would be particularly interested in finding out more about O'Reilly. Where for example is he usually based? Is O'Reilly even his real name? Is he really only a sergeant when officers of a higher rank are clearly taking orders from him?

Of course, there are wider questions to be asked regarding the deployment of so many police at the behest of a multinational. We expect that the continuing occupation of the area will eventually become too big an issue for the mainstream issue to ignore.

O'Reilly has clearly demonstrated that he's willing to go beyond the law when carrying out his duties at Bellanaboy. His obvious seniority in the chain of command is therefore worrying. So, if you go down to the woods in Bellanaboy tonight, in the words of another sergeant, be careful out there...