Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As I said outside the House, I wholeheartedly condemn the disgraceful scenes of naked violence visited on the people of Dublin and on the Garda by a very unrepresentative minority last Saturday. It is already clear this was an attempt by a small sectarian minority to deny others the right to express their views freely and in a peaceful manner. Let us be clear, these were the motivations of a group of very vicious people who went out on a Saturday morning, not to watch a football match or do their shopping in town but with serious intent.

I salute the bravery of the men and women of the Garda Síochána. The gardaí were sorely provoked on Saturday and responded professionally to outrageous attacks upon them motivated by unreasoning hatred and malice towards the lawful authority of our democracy.

Later the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will deal comprehensively with all the matters surrounding the violent events. I will confine myself to a few brief comments. The Garda had extensive consultations over the past two months plus with the Northern Ireland based organisation Families Acting for Innocent Relatives, FAIR, who wished to march to highlight the feelings of victims of IRA violence. They contacted the Garda prior to Christmas regarding their intention. When the intentions of FAIR became known a number of dissident republican organisations, particularly Republican Sinn Féin, called for a counter demonstration. All the credible intelligence information available to the Garda indicated that any counter protests on the day would be small and peaceful.

The Garda held a series of meetings with representatives of FAIR as to the policing of the parade and, arising from those discussions and taking account of the intelligence assessment that the Garda make into all marches and protests, which seem to occur in O'Connell Street every week, a comprehensive policing plan was put in place by the Garda. This involved close liaison with Dublin City Council.

The purpose of that plan was to permit the parade to go ahead and allow the police to counter any demonstration. The objective was to employ a proportionate police presence that would ensure public safety, and not to over react with too large a force, and at the same time not to create too much tension. As it happened, approximately 350 people wanted to march. There were approximately 350 gardaí, including gardaí on stand-by. They were quickly able to call on approximately another 150. While they thought they were dealing with a crowd of between 50 and 70, it turned out to be several hundred when they appeared out of pubs and lanes at the back of both sides of O'Connell Street.

Unfortunately, that could not be foreseen. It was, in fact, thuggish behaviour by a relatively small number of persons, some of whom had been drinking in the immediate environs of O'Connell Street. These people engaged in an orgy of violence against gardaí and property, against journalists and against anybody who got in their way. These were not the only targets. There was a very sinister development, with blatant attacks on clearly identifiable members of the media and, as reported today, on shopkeepers and others in the general area of town in the afternoon as well.

I emphasise that while the Garda was aware of the proposed protest by dissident republican groups, there was no specific information or intelligence available to it to suggest that violence on the scale witnessed was planned. That was a complete surprise. On the day a decision was taken not to let the parade as planned proceed but to allow a demonstration outside of this House, which did take place.

The Garda investigation into the violence, vandalism and looting is continuing. A preliminary report was presented to Cabinet — the Minister will give that later — and the more detailed report will be compiled over the immediate period as the Garda conduct an assessment by all of those people involved.

A decision was made on how to handle the march. It involved a very large number of gardaí. I am familiar with O'Connell Street marches. Normally, one or two dozen people parade. There have been large marches already this year. There have been marches and protests about different issues. There is no need to mention any of those; they are all known and were well made. Some of them were high profile and some of them were very low profile, but 350 gardaí is a large number for these marches.

See this speech in context