Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak about the weekend and the policing of the protest outside this building, which was really a vigil. Mother's Day is a celebration for some but for others it is quite a complex day, such as the women and children of Gaza. I refer to the fact that the world would show solidarity with them, that women would give up their day to come and spend time outside Leinster House and show solidarity with mothers who have lost their children and children who have lost their mothers, intentionally, in a purposeful annihilation of women and children in Gaza. Given the response from a policing perspective, we must ask questions about what decisions are being made, how they are made and when force is used in spite of there being no force inflicted outside the gates of Leinster House. It was a peaceful protest. There was no violence used. People were sitting there with photographs, singing, and being together. The fact is they were arrested, put into the back of a Garda van and brought to three different police stations, where three different approaches were taken in each police station. Some of the women were strip-searched, including visual cavity strip-searches following a peaceful protest outside the Parliament. Many of them were offered a caution. If a person accepts a caution, it means he or she must not come before the Garda again for three years.Imagine the chilling effect that has on protest, on anyone who wants to show solidarity or on people who want to stand outside Leinster House and show they care about something in a particular way. If they can receive a caution for doing something peaceful, how terrified will they be to show solidarity in any protest ever again? The chilling effect this will have on protest in and of itself is something we need to question, because we are now not only using force to police women when it is not necessary but also having a negative effect on the ability of people to show solidarity, protest or hold a vigil.

Will the Leader request from the Minister details of the policy on policing protests and using strip searches? I know strip searches are related to whether people will be going into a cell, but if gardaí are coming from a peaceful protest where women were sitting down singing songs, surely their discretion and judgment will tell them a strip search is not necessary for those women. It makes absolutely no sense and it is a complete violation. It seems like it was a tool to shame and control people who wanted to show solidarity outside this House at the weekend.