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Nine people have been arrested following clashes between Gardaí and anti-blockade protesters in Dublin on Thursday afternoon and have been charged with public order offenses.
In total, 11 arrests were made during an incident in which several Gardaí used truncheons to dominate protesters before pinning them to the ground and handcuffing them.
The garda operation was intended to ensure that Grafton Street was not occupied for a sit-or-run protest, as had been the case nearly three weeks ago.
Nine of the detainees were men and their ages ranged from 20 to 60 years. All nine defendants were released on bail to appear in district court next month. The other two received warnings from adults.
On Thursday night, Gardaí said they were now investigating the organizers of the protest and that guidance would be sought from the Director of the Public Ministry regarding any further action.
There was a large Garda presence on Grafton Street. Photography: Stephen Collins
Meeting
A large rally had been planned for Custom House Quay, although both the Yellow Vest group and Health Ireland decided to withdraw from the meeting.
However, more than 100 protesters gathered in the city center and staged a sit-in protest on O’Connell Bridge for a period.
They then marched to the convention center at Spencer Dock at the IFSC in an apparent effort to hold a rally outside, while Dáil Éireann had sat there. However, Gardaí blocked access to the center. When their path was blocked, the group organized a sit-in protest around the Guild Street area.
After some time there, they left and marched toward the East Wall before heading back downtown to Grafton Street.
Vans on the street
Before the protest crowd reached Grafton Street, Gardaí had deployed large numbers of personnel there, including Gardaí in uniform, some in civilian clothes and Gardaí on bicycles.
A large number of Garda vans had also hit the street and were parked there. This was done to avoid a repeat of a sit-in protest in early October.
When protesters encountered a strong Garda presence at both ends of the street, some crossed the Garda cordon before heading to the side streets and congregating on Lemon Street.
They were initially blocked by Gardaí and parked Garda vans, but the group stormed Grafton Street when they saw an arrested woman screaming loudly as they took her away.
Once the crowd broke into Grafton Street, a large number of them faced the Gardaí, some of whom drew their truncheons. While some protesters were immobilized and arrested, other Gardaí warned the remaining protesters to stay away.
The clashes were brief, but involved relatively large numbers of protesters and Gardaí, although the arrested suspects were taken away and order was restored relatively quickly.
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