Protest-free zone around Leinster House proposed

A protest-free zone around Leinster House has been proposed by the Ceann Comhairle following Wednesday’s protest.

The protest, which saw over a dozen protesters arrested, was condemned as “an attack on democracy” by the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl as well as elected representatives.

Virgin Media political correspondent Gavan Reilly said on Twitter that the decision to create a protest-free zone around Leinster House was not a decision for the Ceann Comhairle to make, and that “many politicians would prefer protests to remain at Leinster House, than risk moving them on to their offices or homes.”

TDs and staff were unable to leave the grounds of Leinster House for several hours yesterday afternoon due a protest outside, which saw protesters display mock gallows surrounded by portraits of political leaders including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

Ó Fearghaíl said “we can never see again happen what happened outside yesterday.”

He said that if the situation went unchallenged “it will bring us to a point that we saw in the United States in the aftermath of the last presidential election.”

“1,200 people work here, 220 of us politicians. The people that suffered abuse yesterday came from all walks of life. Civil servants, political staff, political advisors, journalists, the whole spectrum, and what happened was particularly vile and vicious,” he told RTÉ News.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that she has spoken with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about the “disgraceful” scenes, which she says has “no place in our democracy”.

McEntee said that the Government will “always protect the right to peaceful protest”, but that scenes yesterday were the “intimidation and threatening of elected representatives and members of An Garda Síochána.”

In a statement, People Before Profit said the protesters “want to create a fascist dictatorship over the dead bodies of left-wing TDs and elements of the establishment they have constructed as hate figures.”

“There should be no attempt to gloss over the political motivations of the organisers. These are the same people who have staged protests at libraries, direct provision centres and against trans people,” the statement read.

Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that people surprised by the protest “haven’t been watching.”

In a tweet, the Dublin Bay North TD said “libraries have had to close, protests have heard calls to burn immigrants out of their homes” and said that “some politicians have stoked these sentiments, some for years, who now want to join condemnations.”

Green Party Td Marc Ó Cathasaigh said “do we imagine we’re far from a Jo Cox moment? We’ve pretended to ourselves that we’re immune to this kind of dangerous polarisation in this country. We are not.”