Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am a proud Dubliner. I was born and bred in this city. I raised my family here. This is a city of positivity, a vibrant city full of decent, hard-working people who believe in community. Like all Dubliners, I am heartbroken by what happened in Dublin last Thursday. How in the name of God did we come to this? Three young children and their carer were stabbed outside their school in broad daylight. It is every parent’s worst nightmare. Our hearts go out to those children, their parents and their families, especially the little five-year-old child fighting for her life.

As those poor children were being taken to hospital, a mob of thugs set about destruction and mayhem. They were allowed to take control of Dublin city centre. The Minister’s assertion that nobody saw this coming is a water-weak defence. Everybody saw it coming for months. When the news broke that children had been stabbed, people held their breath for even a hint that the perpetrator might not be Irish. They knew this would be exploited by those who seek to sow hate, division and mayhem.

Very soon after the attack, organised agitators were on the scene, working their phones and starting to plan the havoc that unfolded. It was obvious to everyone on the ground that this orchestration was happening. In fact, a member of Mary Lou McDonald’s team brought it to the attention of gardaí at the scene. People could see them organising through social media. At 2.04 p.m., I messaged my sister-in-law, who works in the Rotunda, to warn her. I was in Dublin. I was here in Leinster House and I could see this escalating. How did the Minister not see and feel what was coming?

Incredibly, the only people who did not see this coming were the Minister, her Government colleagues and the Garda Commissioner. We needed a decisive, early and quick public order policing intervention to contain the trouble and nip it in the bud. That is not what we got. Spokespeople for the GRA say that there was no plan, no central instruction was given to gardaí and front-line gardaí showed up to help because of WhatsApp messages sent to each other. This was an unprecedented and catastrophic failure of leadership on the part of the Minister and Commissioner Harris.

The public were placed in the way of danger. Ordinary workers, emergency responders and front-line gardaí were isolated, exposed and set upon. The Minister lost control of Dublin city centre. It was mob rule, yet she says that the Garda had the resources needed to respond quickly and with force. Denial. The Minister refuses to accept that control of the city centre was lost. Delusion. She says that the streets of Dublin city centre are safe. Make believe. Tell that to the children, parents and staff at Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire. Yesterday, when those children came out of school, they were greeted with the sight of an intoxicated stranger who had urinated on himself, and there was not a single garda around six days after these little children were traumatised by the brutal stabbing of three of their classmates and their carer. Just think of the fear this created for those children and their parents. What happened to those children was not normal. Nobody expects a garda to be posted at the door. What they do expect is visible, strong and active community policing in the vicinity of the school.

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