MayDay DISGRACE!!!

Originally posted by mike65
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=64753

It'll proberly be best read later on tomorrow when its had chance to develope into a proper shouting match.

Mike.

They are an awful shower of fools...

Originally posted by Stekelly
i'd have done it for free:D

Me loads the sniper rifle.

Make it one of these and I'm with you

Originally posted by dazberry
You'll have to count me out on that one. I'd have extreme difficulty deciding on which direction to point it.

We can only let you carry the ammo then

Originally posted by pork99
Make it one of these and I'm with you

Fine, but i get first choice of vantage point. Come one , come all, to the great mayday turkey shoot. Free teddy for every 5 hippies you bag.

I think the gardaí did quite well (although the don't seem to be too stretched).

The protesters behaved well for most of the day. The leaders marshalled the crowds well. A few bad elements hung around later at night for the proverbial handbags as would have been expected.

The media are a disgrace. They had the headlines written before the event. They wanted a big story and they went ahead and wrote it anyway.

1 garda injured and about 25 arrests. That's not much considering the significance of the event. 10 new countries joined the EU. It's probably the biggest 'EU/Globalisation' event since the fall of the Berlin wall.

And we got less arrests then at an outdoor rock concert.

Agree with Tuars about the media even if there was no troubles I am sure they would have come up with something anyway
And congratulate the gardaí for keeping things under control for most of the day. These junkie trouble makers just move from event to event for the sake of causing disorder regardless what you do they will do what they came for. They don't care what the protests are about, I don't even think they know what they protest, most of them can't even spell Globalisation

water cannons were too good for them, i'd say more probably turned up for the free wash. fair play to the cops, v. professional.

Who organised these this protest?

Why should the state have to pay for massive security for these protests - the people who organise these things should be hit with at least some of the cost.

If you organise a protest, march or demonstration - have you not a responsibility to make sure it passes off peacefully?

There was a strong possibility of violence, our Gardai prepared adequately, and acted professionally to avoid increasing the tension.

Great Credit has to go to the security forces.

Taken from Ireland.com breaking news





DGN blames Government and Garda for disturbances
By Conor Pope Last updated: 02-05-04, 13:24

The Dublin Grassroots Network (DGN) this morning laid the blame for last night's disturbances outside the Phoenix Park squarely at the feet of the Government and the Garda accusing both of stoking up tensions in the run up to May Day.

In a statement the DGN also said the reaction of the gardai to "isolated pushing and shoving" last night was totally unnecessary as there was "never any chance that the crowd would break through police lines".

Last night the Taoiseach Mr Ahern paid tribute to the Garda handling of the disturbances, saying that while he was disappointed they took place he was "happy with the way the Garda Siochana have handled the situation".

Superintendent John Farrelly also defended the gardai's handling of the trouble. "We had a job to do," he said. "The job we had to do was to protect society, to protect the people in the park and the situation was that has been achieved.

"If people want to try to take over the streets of this country or this city or anything else, well they can't do that. That's anarchy and it doesn't work."

The DGN, in a statement released this morning, said that their 'Bring the Noise' march to Farmleigh was about "the freedom of assembly and opinion" and accused the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell deliberately seeking "trouble and arrests to justify his multi-million euro [security] operation".

"We are told that we 'provoked' the police," the DNG said. "But this was not a question of ordinary gardai somehow losing the run of themselves. It was a command decision to pull back the ordinary gardai and attack a crowd of several thousand people. Those baton charges very nearly provoked a full-scale panic, in which people would have been trampled. This has nothing to do with keeping the peace."

The group accepted that while "some cans and bottles were thrown", the garda response was totally out of proportion to the risks posed by the marchers.

"We have spoken to several eyewitnesses who saw people beaten, thrown over walls, or hit on the head, even while sitting down," the statement says. "This police reaction was unnecessary. There was never any chance that the crowd would break through police lines".

"The Government wanted a riot, and no doubt that is how they will describe this. If so, it was not protestors who were rioting."

The group pointed out that the vast majority of the weekend events were "cheerful, friendly and colourful" and passed off peacefully. DGN said it remained committed to defend the right to free assembly and said they would not "give up the right to protest".

Originally posted by Cork
If you organise a protest, march or demonstration - have you not a responsibility to make sure it passes off peacefully?

No.

Keep posting that question and I'll keep posting that answer. It's already been dealt with.

Nope no journalist hurt from what I saw and read but a ban garda received minor head injuries and was discharged soon afterwards. A couple of protesters were also hurt but no more info has appeared on what happened to them.

Had a quick read of the indymedia site this morning and its priceless comments that the Gardai caused the problems. From what I saw and read it was a minority of the crowd that were throwing cans etc that caused the problems and kudos to the Gardai they acted in a very professional manner. What did these protesters expect to be let walk to Farmleigh with a rake of European Leaders there, especially with increased threats of terrorist attacks (thanks to the Axis of Diesels "War on Terror" tm).

Gandalf.

Originally posted by Goodshape
Was there. It was good overall. Carnavel atmosphere walking down the road; bongo's and dancing, lots of whistles.

Disgraceful. The guardi were just trying out their new toy, only out on loan after all.

The Gardai are there to maintain law and order. These protestors

were'nt to happy about being told we can go no further

.

So, Gardai had to use water canons.

Were the Gardai to blame for the people who had to be brought to hospital?

I think the Gardai were 100% justified in what they did.

The GardaI are there to maintain law and order. These protestors should tear a leaf out of the IFA book on peaceful protest. The IFA tractor protest came to Dublin, made their point and went home.

IThe Gardai did their job very well yesterday - Full credit to them.