Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has called for a change in the way sites for new accommodation centres for international protection applicants (IPAs) are selected, and then opened, with a view to minimising violent opposition to them.
Though he insisted very few of the centres have caused the kind of clashes seen in Coolock, north Dublin, he believes that when other State departments and agencies are drawing up plans, the Garda should be included and should have an earlier input.
Better consultation may have helped last week’s policing operation at the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, earmarked as an IPA centre, which resulted in violent clashes and 32 arrests.
“There’s a better way through this and together with our partners in Government and the contractors engaged in this, we do need to find a better way through,” he said. “This is no way, actually, that we respond to our international, lawful, responsibilities to those who seek protection in this country. So we have to find a better way through.”
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While a lessons-learned process was under way within the Garda after last week’s clashes, Mr Harris believes other State “departments” and “agencies” also need to learn from the events of Malahide Road, Coolock.
Mr Harris’s remarks effectively point to serious shortcomings in current policies, and State planning, and are likely to put pressure on the Government. It has already faced criticism around the need for more dialogue and better planning when choosing sites for IPA centres.
A total of 67 arrests have been made at approximately 400 protests, of all kinds, policed by the Garda this year. Some 32 of those occurred in Coolock last week and, of those arrests, 30 were made last Monday week when the worst of the violence occurred. Gardaí came under attack, a serious arson incident occurred at the former paint factory and Public Order Unit gardaí clashed with some of those present, using riot shields and pepper sprays.
However, Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis, who is in charge of policing in Dublin, told a public meeting of the Policing Authority in Dublin on Thursday, that trouble had flared at “only a handful” of protests gardaí had policed this year.
Mr Harris was asked by authority member Paul Mageean if there were negotiations with the Garda when other State agencies were planning new IPA accommodation centres or if the Garda was “simply presented with the problem”.
“I won’t say we’re presented with the problem, but sometimes we’re presented with ‘this is what’s happening’,” said Mr Harris. “I just think, given recent events, and the care that needs to be taken, that the policing impact of (opening IPA accommodation centres), and managing the policing operation, should be a very significant factor in the timing of these matters.”
It also emerged at the meeting the Garda was notified by Government just five days in advance of the plans to move contractors into the Coolock site in the early hours of last Monday.
Mr Harris said an estimated 300 IPA accommodation centres were planned nationally, with approximately 78 in Dublin. He noted in many places such centres had been opened with no violence, meaning a template was already available to avoid unrest.
The Policing Authority was also told some protesters in Coolock had genuine concerns. But they had been “infiltrated” by “troublemakers”. There were “dozens” of agitators spreading disinformation on social media and some signs that violence was being directed by extremists on the ground.
Some Irish extremists were in contact with people in the international far right community, seeking advice, Mr Harris said. However, the advice imparted was of low quality as it was based on a lack of knowledge of Ireland and Irish policing. But Mr Harris warned clashes like those seen in Coolock made Ireland a centre of focus for international far right figures online.
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