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The Garda Commissioner has defended the force\u2019s policing of house parties and social gatherings in the middle of the pandemic.<\/p>\nThe Garda Commissioner has defended the force\u2019s policing of house parties and social gatherings in the middle of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Drew Harris warned against the \u201cserious escalation\u201d of garda powers when it came to breaking up house parties in private homes.<\/p>\n
Video footage of large numbers of young people gathering in the streets near Spanish Arch in Galway and at the Oliver Bond complex in Dublin in recent weeks has drawn criticism of the Garda\u2019s enforcement of the public health guidelines.<\/p>\n
The Commissioner was questioned about the matter by the Policing Authority on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Mr. Harris said it had been \u201cdifficult\u201d and that there was \u201cno simple answer to it\u201d because people have constitutional rights in terms of the protection of the homeplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do our best within the powers available to us to deal with the event\u2026..and to bring the party to an end through persuasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may not fulfil some of the public concern in respect of that but to start moving further in terms of entering a home to break up a party that is a serious escalation in terms of our enforcement powers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a road we should be very careful before we step down on.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said members of the Garda in Galway had attended the scene at Claddagh Basin across the river from the Spanish Arch and were a \u201cvisible and substantial presence\u201d but that they also had to deal with a significant number of house parties in the greater Galway area at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was irresponsible behavior by individuals in terms of just what was organized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut these matters are not straightforward in the present health regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the presence of gardai on the scene had the effect of \u201cdampening down the whole ambience\u201d of the event and they had encouraged people to return to their residences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have a regulatory provision in terms of who might organize such an event,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you have in effect individuals congregating over social media it\u2019s very difficult to point the finger at any one individual and say \u2018you\u2019re the one that organized that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that when they could pinpoint a definite event organizer then gardai are in the position to investigate and report that person to the Director of Public Prosecutions.<\/p>\n
Moling Ryan of the Policing Authority said they had received feedback that when it came to the police\u2019s handling of the gathering at the Oliver Bond complex that \u201ca period of time had lapsed\u201d from when the issue was reported to gardai and when they arrived on scene.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Harris said the Garda\u2019s understanding of the Oliver Bond event \u201cwas somewhat different to what was reported\u201d.<\/p>\n
Deputy Commissioner John Twomey said: \u201cAt first the behavior did not step across that divide in to the breach of the legislation and the breach of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was only a subsequent point and time later in the evening when the numbers had grown \u2026that some of the behavior became unacceptable and then we dealt with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t quite agree that it was an inappropriate response,\u201d Mr. Twomey added.<\/p>\n