Garda Commissioner Drew Harris says riot squad use will be ramped up after a patrol car was rammed by joyriders cheered on a by a crowd of bystanders.
The terrifying incident unfolded in the Cherry Orchard area of south-west Dublin on Monday night. The Irish Mirror has learned that there were two female officers in the patrol car and that both have been left “traumatised”.
Commissioner Harris described it as “disgraceful and concerning”. He said the force’s public order units have been “stood up” after the incident which was caught on camera and shared online.
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Mr Harris added that a full investigation is now under way. He continued: “The public order unit has been stood up. It had been stood up over the weekend but that’s going to be stood up now and available.”
Cherry Orchard councillor Daithai Doolan slammed the thugs involved in the incident, who he said are leaving people in the area terrorised and “in tears”. Cllr Doolan, who is Chair of the local Joint Policing Committee, said Monday night’s horror incident is not a one-off.
The shocking ramming happened shortly after 7.30pm when gardai were alerted to several cars driving dangerously in the Cherry Orchard area.
Footage shared on social media shows onlookers cheering and some encouraging the drivers to “ram” the approaching patrol car. Two cars are driven into the patrol car before it was left with no alternative but to flee the area for safety reasons.
Cllr Doolan told Newstalk Breakfast yesterday morning: “Locals are terrorised. I mean they were on the phone to me long before that video was watched by people.
“People were ringing me in tears, frustrated – but this is night after night and this is going back weeks and months.”
Cllr Doolan said he was in Cherry Orchard in January when he witnessed similar anti-social behaviour first-hand and bore the brunt of an attack.
He also said he hopes the shocking video of the latest incident “lands on the desk of the Commissioner and the Minister for Justice”. He called for more resources to tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour in the area.
Cllr Doolan also said he hopes the “terrifying scenes” on Monday night “serves as a wake-up call”. He added: “This community has been ignored for too long, urgently needs resources and support from the Government and senior gardai”.
He said he is “deeply concerned this great community will be abandoned to a very small group of criminals”.
Meanwhile, Garda Representative Association President Brendan O’Connor said the gardai involved in Monday night’s incident “were traumatised and exposed to danger”.
He said the incident “raised all sorts of questions about equipment, the training and the protocols”.
Mr O’Connor continued: “We saw vehicles being used as weapons to attack our members and unfortunately, we just have to look at the memorial wall and the Garda Memorial Gardens to know how many guards have actually lost their lives as a result of people using vehicles dangerously or recklessly.
“We have an inadequate availability of resources to respond to what was reported.
He told RTE 1’s Today with Claire Byrne: “The gardai who respond are possibly in a vehicle that’s not suitable – there’s an issue around driver training. We have skeleton response crews because frontline regular units have been depleted so short.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee also expressed her shock over the incident.
She said: “Any assault on gardai is unacceptable and utterly disrespectful of the rule of law and the law-abiding community. Those showing contempt for Gardai and decent communities will be investigated and I urge anyone with information to contact An Garda Siochana.”
So far, no arrests have been made in relation to the ramming of the patrol car. However, gardai continue to appeal to members of the public who witnessed the incident to come forward and make any camera or dash cam footage available to investigating officers.
In a statement, gardai said that when officers arrived they “observed two vehicles driving erratically”.
The statement continued: “Both vehicles failed to stop when requested to do so by gardai and one vehicle collided with an official Garda vehicle. No injuries were reported during the incident.”
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