Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said none of the Mothers Against Genocide protesters arrested last month were subjected to strip-searching or cavity searching, as has been alleged, including in Dáil Éireann.
Mr Harris confirmed he had reported on the matter to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and also intended to write to Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy about the comments made in the Dáil.
“I can categorically state, no cavity search took place, no strip-search took place,” he said while speaking to the media at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, on Tuesday.
He added the two female gardaí dealing with the arrested protesters “did so in line with our procedures”. He was “entirely content there was no wrongdoing”.
He said he had spoken to the gardaí involved and had also visited their station as a show of his “full, 100 per cent support” for them in the face of the allegations. The body-worn camera footage of the arrests and also further footage recorded inside the Garda station had been reviewed.
Mr Harris said he was “disappointed” at the comments made in the Dáil as they were “entirely inaccurate” and when the Garda went to investigate what had taken place, there was “nothing to investigate”.
People taken into Garda custody could, at times, be vulnerable or they could pose a risk. Because of this, there were very clear procedures for dealing with them at a Garda station, which Mr Harris said were followed in the recent case.
Mr O’Callaghan said the allegations were made about women members of the Garda who searched other women after they were arrested outside Leinster House, Dublin, following a Mother’s Day protest last month.
“I asked that bodycam footage and any recordings be examined, particularly recordings from Garda stations,” said Mr O’Callaghan. “Having conducted his inquiries, the Commissioner reported back to me last week in writing, stating that his inquiries revealed the allegations made by some members of Dáil Éireann were false.
“I want you to know that I know that these allegations were very upsetting and damaging for the female gardaí accused of this grave wrongdoing.”
Mr O’Callaghan said he believed politicians “should reflect on that before standing up in Dáil Éireann to make very serious allegations about identifiable gardaí”.
Instead, if there were allegations about gardaí, these should be taken to the Garda complaints body, Fiosrú, which had powers to thoroughly investigate such matters.
Mothers Against Genocide held an overnight demonstration in Dublin on the night of Sunday, March 30th, outside Leinster House to mark Mother’s Day and to remember women and their children killed in Gaza.
Fourteen protesters were removed the following morning by gardaí and arrested under the Public Order Act 1994 after allegedly blocking the entrance to the Oireachtas.
It was later alleged that members of the group were subjected to strip-searches and, in one case, a cavity search.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett raised the matter in the Dáil, saying the protesters were “arrested violently and strip-searched”.
He quoted one woman as saying: “I was stripped completely naked and asked to remove my underwear. When I questioned the necessity for this I was told I would be forced violently if I didn’t comply and they didn’t want any trouble. They looked inside my private area and touched all my sensitive parts.”
The force has previously said “preliminary enquiries conducted by local Garda management” found that the searches were in line with “the treatment of persons in custody in Garda Síochána regulations”. The force also denied “any allegation that a cavity search took place”.
However, Mothers Against Genocide reiterated the assertion that people experienced “strip-searches, degrading treatment and cavity search”.
“We note the various gardaí accounts appearing in the media. We are in the process of receiving legal advice in relation to complaints,” it said.
