Four Dáil deputies have protested to both the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner over the "unprecedented" videotaping of a meeting and press conference at Bellanaboy, Co Mayo, yesterday.
Independent TDs Tony Gregory, Jerry Cowley and Seamus Healy and Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said they were demanding an explanation for the conduct of "certain gardaí" during the events.
The TDs were addressing a meeting of around 130 protesters involved in the Shell to Sea campaign against the controversial section of the proposed Corrib gas pipeline in Mayo. They called for work to be stopped at the terminal and expressed support for processing gas at sea. They indicated to the meeting that they would make a complaint to the Garda Commissioner about being filmed by gardaí.
In the text of a letter to the Minister and the Garda Commissioner, issued by the four TDs today, they say they wish to protest "in the strongest possible way" at the conduct of certain gardai during their visit to Bellanaboy.
"During a press conference and meeting we organised, there was a continuous and intrusive presence of at least two members of the Garda recording the entire proceedings with video cameras. We believe it to be unprecedented that members of the Oireachtas carrying out their representational functions would be subjected to this treatment," the letter reads.
It continues: "We seek an explanation. We wish to know who ordered this practice. We wish to know to what purpose it was carried out and to what use these video tapes are to be put. We request you to confirm that there will not be a repeat."
A Garda spokesman told ireland.comthat videotaping such events took place in order that it could be later called upon by the Garda if any "incidents" took place.
"It was not targeted at any particular individuals," he said. "It's basically for our own protection."
Shell-to-Sea campaigner Maura Harrington was taken to hospital last Friday after an alleged incident at the protest close to Bellanaboy.
Ms Harrington was treated at the scene by Mayo TD Dr Jerry Cowley and was taken by ambulance to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. She chose to be transported in a Health Service Executive (HSE) ambulance rather than in an Irish Red Cross ambulance, which Shell is required to have on the site.
Ms Harrington claimed she had been knocked to the ground by a garda and had sustained injuries to her head and neck.
Gardaí also arrested and later released two people in Belmullet late last week in relation to an alleged incident of intimidation over the Shell Corrib project.
The sight of gardaí using handheld video cameras to record events at protests is a familiar sight in Dublin in recent years and it is believed such footage was used to identify individuals later charged in relation to the riots that halted the 'Love Ulster' rally in the capital earlier this year.