Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I entirely support everything that is in the motion tabled by the Fianna Fáil Senators here today. I want to say at the outset, however, that I have full confidence in the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána. This House should respect him and support him because he is bringing about effective change in a force which I, as a former Minister for Justice, know needs reform and change. Different rosters are needed. He should not be in a position where he has to take the flak for reforms that are badly needed.

I remember when I proposed the introduction of a Garda Reserve, with all-party support, GRA representatives saying they would wait in the long grass for me. I ask people to remember that we must support the institutions of the State and the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána is one of them. He deserves support. He deserves the support of the Government and he deserves parliamentary support.

Events last week around this House do call for some comment. Thugs sought to intimidate and to prevent access to Leinster House of Members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, visitors, and staff and to impede the functioning of this Parliament. That was disgraceful and wrong. People talk about constitutional rights. Could I read into the record one provision of the Constitution? It is "The right of the citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms." First of all, it has to be peaceful. Second, it states "Provision may be made by law to prevent or control meetings which are determined in accordance with law to be calculated to cause a breach of the peace or to be a danger or nuisance to the general public and to prevent or control meetings in the vicinity of either House of the Oireachtas." That is in our Constitution. I was surprised and disappointed to hear people saying that to protect this House from the kind of behaviour that we saw the other day somehow was to call for a diminution of constitutional rights. The basic law of this land says that access to this House is required, particularly for Members who are free from arrest in coming here. The general rule is that the Members of the Oireachtas, the proceedings of the Oireachtas, and the Houses of the Oireachtas are required to be protected by An Garda Síochána. It is not an option.

I would say in relation to those who arranged the security precautions last week that they were wholly inadequate and badly managed. We were excluded from getting in and out of here by unnecessary traffic restrictions for a group of about 150 or 160 people who were mindless thugs with a variety of grievances, for example, "Ballybrack Says No" and problems with vaccines, immigrants and everything else.

People say that this is the rise of the new right. I do not think there is very much "right" or "left" about what they said, but I do ask every single Member of this House here today to take up The Irish Timesbefore the day is out. On the same page as where I am writing about Dublin city, they will find an article by Kathy Sheridan, which states in great detail precisely what was done by one of the hard left in the House to the Tánaiste of the day in her car at a demonstration. I will not repeat the language here, but it was foul and abusive, to which she and her colleagues were subjected on that occasion. Not merely that, but threats were made to them. The policing on that occasion was very poor indeed. I am glad that Ministers now have Garda drivers and security men and women restored to them because that is something which should never have been allowed happen. If we go back to what happened afterwards, a kidnapping charge was put against one Member of the House and others, which was a ridiculous overreaction. The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 makes what happened there an offence. It gives every guard the right to order people who behave like that and the people who were outside the gates of this place to disperse.

The Offences Against the State Act 1939, two years after the excerpt from the Constitution that I just cited was enacted, stated that a member of An Garda Síochána could call on any demonstration in this area to disperse and it is an offence not to do so. I want this House protected. Senator Boyhan and I had the opportunity the day before all that happened to call to the attention of the authorities in this House the dangers to which Members were being subjected. I have no problem with a group of kids from a school coming and standing outside Leinster House with placards or picketing type demonstrations, which are perfectly good but given the behaviour we saw, the precautions we saw taken were inadequate, bad policing, and should not have been and it should not have been done. I do not want to criticise the individual gardaí, but somebody majorly misunderstood the nature of the occasion and the reaction of An Garda Síochána, which was to close this place down for six hours, was wholly wrong. I want to put that on the record.

I am with the Commissioner. I stand by the Commissioner. I stand up for the Commissioner. I think the Minister does likewise. If we are having some dispute about rosters it has nothing to do with confidence in the Commissioner. That is all industrial relations. It is a sad day indeed when the institutions of this State are reduced to votes of no confidence in a man who is doing Trojan work to bring about very badly needed reforms in An Garda Síochána.