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Hundreds of protesters clashed over lockdown measures in Dublin city center on Saturday with Gardaí sometimes struggling to contain violent exchanges between the two sides.
A protest by anti-mask and anti-lockdown groups, including the right-wing National Party, was staged in front of Leinster House at 1pm on Saturday. However, fights quickly broke out when the demonstration encountered a group of counter-protesters.
Gardaí confirmed that an investigation is underway targeting the organizers of both protests, while two men, one in his 30s and the other in his 40s, were arrested for public order offenses.
Gardaí at the protest outside Leinster House. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times
An Irish tricolor is thrown through the air as members of An Garda Síochána intervene as anti-blockade protesters clashed with counter-protesters during an anti-blockade protest outside Leinster House on Saturday. Photograph: Brian Lawless / PA Wire
Counter-protesters (left) clash with activists protesting government-imposed restrictions to help stop the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases outside Leinster House on Saturday. Photograph: Paul Faith / AFP via Getty
A full Garda operation was under way from early morning involving up to 100 Garda personnel from Dublin’s North Central and North Divisions, as well as the National Public Order Unit and dog and dog units. Mounted Garda.
The group of at least 100 counter-protesters, which seemed highly coordinated but made up of disparate groups, gathered in front of the Shelbourne Hotel in St Stephens’s Green at 12:45 pm.
The group, all masked and mostly dressed in black, marched down Dawson St and turned right onto Molesworth St before heading towards Leinster House chanting “Nazi scum, off our streets.”
The group was flanked by uniformed Gardaí on bicycles, while several Garda vans from the force’s public order unit stood on standby nearby. Plainclothes Garda members also mingled with the crowd.
Barriers
Anti-blockade protesters at Leinster House began shouting “Antifa” at the counter-protesters as they approached, and as soon as both sides were within meters of each other, both rushed forward and violent clashes immediately ensued.
Counter-protesters (left) clash with activists protesting Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin on Saturday. Photograph: Paul Faith / AFP via Getty
Dozens of people on both sides threw punches and kicks, while nuts, bolts, fireworks and other projectiles were thrown. Nearby Gardaí on bicycles quickly dismounted, threw them aside, drew their batons and rushed to end the violence.
Other members of the force jumped the cordons and began to form a line between the two groups. When the Gardaí began to control the situation, steel barriers were quickly erected to keep the two sides separate.
However, several counter-protesters broke up and tried to catch up with the other group by pushing Kildare St before more Gardaí entered and blocked their path.
The gardaí sometimes struggled to contain the situation as protesters from both sides tried to get around the barriers and reach the other side by moving through different streets.
In one such moment, when it seemed like more chaos was about to unfold, a Garda member yelled at colleagues who were lined up in front of him to “hold the line.” Moments later, he yelled again, “No matter what happens, please don’t break the line.”
At another point, a woman among the counter-protesters approached the Garda line, prompting the Garda to pull out her baton and shout “come back” before the woman withdrew.
Later, a man fell to the ground after being hit in the face by a protester on Molesworth St who appeared to believe he was a member of the anti-lockdown group that had eluded Gardaí.
‘Move on’
At various points, members of the counter-protester group, with their faces completely covered, approached members of the media and demanded to see credentials and identification.
Some threatened journalists and tried to stop the taking of photos and the filming of videos. Members of the gardaí intervened on at least two occasions to prevent these interventions from turning violent.
“You can’t go back there,” said a Garda. They have you marked. I couldn’t get you out. Well, it’s not that I can’t get you out, but you know what I mean. “
As Justin Barrett, the leader of the National Party, spoke through a megaphone at Leinster House, the counter-protesters formed a line along Molesworth St and refused to allow the public or the media to pass while the Gardaí watched.
When The Irish Times tried to back up the street, a man approached and demanded identification. When this was rejected after the man himself refused to identify himself, the man said, “I’m going to ask you to go ahead.”
The man confirmed that he was not an undercover member of the Garda.
Sometime later, more than two hours after the fighting began, the group began to march back down Molesworth St and once again attempted to circumvent the Garda cords at each end of Kildare St. Gardaí moved quickly again to erect new barriers in either one. end.
As the group ran down Kildare St, one member of the group yelled for the others to “hold on” as they approached the Garda cordon. However, once it became clear that all access to Leinster House was blocked, the group marched on the GPO before finally dispersing.
As the group traversed the city, members of the public who ate lunch outside cafes or sat on top of buses stared open-mouthed.
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