The National Party condemns unreservedly the actions of An Garda Síochána yesterday, 5th of February 2024, who accosted a group containing many women and children walking home from the national protest. In the footage linked Gardaí can be seen terrorising a child and dragging away her mother for no discernable reason.

We note the involvement of Garda superintendents and inspectors in the arrest, indicating that this abuse of power was directed from on high. Certainly, there exists a deliberate strategy of criminalising and thus discrediting Irish protests, and it is for this reason that the arrests yesterday were made. The state-aligned press have rapidly held up their end of the deal by showering the country in headlines declaring "11 arrested", while reporting nothing of the nature of the arrests or even the protest itself.

This type of abuse is becoming more and more common, as has been witnessed recently across the country. An Garda Síochána have at this stage essentially lost their claim to being an a-political force with a mission to serve the public.

It is remarkable that regular uniformed Gardaí are - with no known exceptions - not merely willing to follow these orders, but execute them with a certain enthusiasm and disproportionate violence.

#IrelandBelongsToTheIrish #PoliticalPolicing