Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week, there was a very serious incident in Kilmore Road, Knocknaheeny, where over 100 young people gathered in a planned way that, I believe, the Garda knew about in advance. A car was crashed. Two people were taken to hospital. The car was burnt out and then fireworks were set off. Some of these were aimed at the emergency service and gardaí. There were only five gardaí at the site. No arrests were made because the gardaí did not have the back-up. At the same time, in my own GAA club, St. Vincent's Hurling and Football Club, hundreds of people, young people and adults who were in there training, were virtually trapped for an hour because the Garda did not have the resources.

The Garda is trying to play this incident down now because it knows it is a resourcing issue. If this happened outside the Tánaiste's local club, with 100 young people gathering, burning out cars, letting off fireworks and attacking the emergency services, people would not be left there for an hour. It should no be allowed to happen in Knocknaheeny. I am calling for more gardaí and a commitment that this will never happen again.

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