Garda Commissioner Drew Harris believes it both “entirely necessary” and “proportionate” to publish photos of “persons of interest” suspected of involvement in the Dublin riots last month.
His defence of the decision follows reports this week that the force did not consult the Data Protection Commission (DPC) before it took the unprecedented step of publishing 99 photographs, with organisations such as Irish the Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) expressing concern about the release.
To date gardaí have established the identities, subject to final confirmation, of 90 of the people featured. Almost all of the names for the people in the images came from members of the public within days of publication.
Speaking at the two-day cross-Border Police Conference at Cavan’s Farnham Estate on Monday, Mr Harris said the publishing was “entirely necessary” as part of their ongoing investigation into the disorder of November 23rd, 2023, and “entirely proportionate given the seriousness of those events that night. In those terms I think we met our human rights requirements”.
Mr Harris meanwhile noted that though the “priority” of the main investigative effort has been to bring those “physically involved” in the riots to justice, gathering more than 19,000 hours of CCTV in the process, gardaí are “aware” of actors on social media inflaming the situation further.
“But a lot of it was from jurisdictions beyond Ireland, and that had a big impact on the night. We can see just the origin, and origin was from other countries.”
Mr Harris’ comments came while appearing alongside Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable John Boutcher.
Mr Boutcher backed his colleague in the south, saying that when the Dublin disturbances occurred, he had contacted Mr Harris, which led to the loaning of a mobile water cannon.
“Too many policing organisation which border each other – and Drew and I have an extensive history in policing – often don’t work cohesively, they don’t work collectively, they don’t work collaboratively. One thing about An Garda Síochána and the PSNI is we do that at all levels.”
The theme of the Cavan get-together, which runs until Tuesday afternoon, is Cross Border Policing through Collaboration. Topics explored by various keynote speakers include Victims and the Vulnerable, Cross-Border Incidents, Partnerships in our Communities, Road Safety and Wellness and Work-Life Balance.
The policing chiefs also used the opportunity to jointly launch a new three year Cross-Border Strategy Statement 2025-2027. The revised roadmap sets out aims to proactively build on already established collaborative relationships and operational successes borne out from previously published collaborative policing strategies.
Addressing reports that members of the Kinahan crime cartel may next move to the likes of Russia to evade jurisdictional reach, Mr Harris said “if they flee then we will pursue”.
It follows reports that a multibillion dollar money laundering network run by two Russian millionaires had been used by the Irish-led organise crime gang to secretly funnel cash.
Mr Harris has said the force remain “very active” in their attempts to prevent immigration crime and human trafficking, following weekend reports that hundreds of migrants have been detained trying to reach the UK via the Irish border.
The interceptions in Northern Ireland are part of a UK home office campaign called Operation Comby. The aim has been to crack down on immigration abuses within the Common Travel Area.
In one three-day operation, revealed on Thursday by the British Home Office, 35 people were arrested for trying to exploit softer border controls with the Republic of Ireland.
The checks aimed at disrupting people smuggling routes were carried out by immigration officials at major ports, airports, road networks, as well as at several private residential addresses across the UK.
Some £5,000 of criminal cash, a car and two fraudulent identity documents were seized.
The Common Travel Area allows British and Irish citizens only to travel without passports between the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
“We take these offences very seriously, working in conjunction with UK authorities,” said Mr Harris.
Mr Harris said that both policing forces are aware of people being “exploited” through immigration crime.
“We want to prevent and affect Ireland being a route in either direction where immigration offences are. We’re particularly concerned about human trafficking to Ireland and onto the island of Ireland for the purposes of exploitation. A huge investigative effort is being put into that.”
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