Candidates to complain to ombudsman

Two general election candidates hope to be among the first people to lodge a complaint with the newly formed Garda Síochána Ombudsman…

Two general election candidates hope to be among the first people to lodge a complaint with the newly formed Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

Gino Kenny and Brid Smith of the People Before Profit Alliance claim they were victims of Garda violence at a protest against the Corrib gas pipeline in Co Mayo last November.

The pair have invited the media to attend the submission of their complaints at the offices of Garda Ombudsman when it opens its doors for the first time tomorrow morning in central Dublin.

Mr Kenny, who is running in the Dublin West constituency, says he was thrown over a wall into a ditch with a 15-foot drop by two gardai at the protest at Bellanaboy.

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He intends to include footage which was shown on television news bulletins as evidence.

Ms Smith who is contesting the election in Dublin South Central will also enclose footage as evidence of being dragged along the ground by gardai and a struck by with a baton.

The pair were among several hundred solidarity protesters who had travelled to Bellanaboy last autumn to protest at work on an onshore gas pipeline and processing plant being constructed by a Shell-led consortium.

There were a number of arrests during a three-month phase of the campaign as protesters attempted to prevent workers on the pipeline from gaining access to their workplace.

A campaign against the gas pipeline has been going on for five years and in 2005 five protesters were jailed for three months for failing to observe a court order requiring them not to interfere with construction of the pipeline.

Ms Smith told ireland.com: "We didn't make a complaint through the Garda Complaints Authority becuase we had not faith in them.

"So we waited for the ombudsman to come along so we could hopefully get a more neutral hearing. Now it's not the Garda Síochána investigating the Garda Síochána."

The Commission was formally opened this afternoon by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and is effective from midnight.

Speaking at the ceremony chaairman of the Commission Mr Justice Kevin Haugh said: "We can anticipate a very substantial increase in the number of complaints received when contrasted with the average number received by the Garda Síochána Complaints Board."