Gardaí stopped a small group of far right protesters from accessing the route of the St Patrick’s Day parade in central Dublin on Friday. At least one arrest was made and while other people were led away by gardaí, it was not immediately clear if they had been arrested.
There were scuffles between Garda members and some of the protesters in the area of Grattan Bridge, linking Capel St and Parliament St. Gardaí blocked the group, which numbered about 50 people, from continuing down the north quays towards the route of the Dublin parade at O’Connell St.
In keeping with other far right gatherings in recent weeks, numbers were much smaller at the St Patrick’s Day protest in Dublin than other far right events held earlier this year and last year. Garda sources said the group in Dublin on Friday posed very little threat and was blocked from accessing the parade route without much difficulty.
However, the policing operation was more robust than at other recent protest events. Most of those protests have been allowed to unfold, often escorted by Garda members, with no effort on the part of gardaí to intervene, including making arrests. On Friday, the protesters were physically blocked from continuing to march as a group towards O’Connell Bridge as gardaí believed they were intent on blocking the parade route.
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Garda officers have been keen to avoid a high profile incident, however small, at the Dublin parade as any successful effort to block the parade or disturb it would generate significant attention domestically and perhaps internationally.
The policing operation involved gardaí on mountain bikes as well as their uniformed colleagues on foot and members of the Public Order Unit. However, as the number of protesters was so small, and the scuffles relatively minor, no public order gardaí in full kit – including helmets and shields – needed to be deployed. Sources said teams of public order gardaí, in full kit, were on standby in vehicles in the city centre ready for deployment of required.
Gardaí have also positioned marked vans, each with cells for several prisoners, around central Dublin in the event large numbers of arrests were made around the same time.
Members of the group prayed outside the Four Courts on Inns Quay before they embarked on their march down the quays. Some shouted slogans referencing a range of subjects including the “transgender agenda”, the Good Friday Agreement, paedophilia, immigration and policing, among others.
Some shouted their objections to rainbow design pedestrian crossings being painting on the road on Capel St and at the presence of gay venues on the street.
Gardaí confirmed one man had been arrested on suspicion of public order offences. He was detained about 12.20pm and has been charged and released in advance of a court appearance at a future date.
