Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In the last few days, we have seen all of these things and more around the country. In Buncrana there are reports of community organisations coming together essentially to have vigilante patrols. In Dromahair there were checkpoints set up. Cars were being stopped. People were being interrogated, and there was demanding of ID. We saw that down in Inch as well, where protesters boarded a bus, demanded ID, took names and details. None of this has received a policing response. Last night in Coole in County Westmeath again there were checkpoints being set up by citizens to demand information, and to try to block people accessing buildings that were in perfectly lawful use. This is what frustrates me. The Commissioner talks in his opening statement about how spontaneous this was. I cannot agree with that in any way at all. Anybody who has been watching what has been happening on social media knew, from the moment the news broke of that awful tragedy, that the riot would be the inevitable consequence. We have a distinct pattern of increasingly violent and threatening protest.

In 2002 we had protests outside here where a TD was assaulted. Was there any follow-up? Were there any arrests or anything done in respect of a TD being assaulted outside here in September 2002?