Gardaí in Coolock have been treated like “lambs to the slaughter” amid violent clashes in the Dublin suburb. 

That’s according to Christy Galligan, a former Garda Sergeant, who believes more needs to be done to help frontline Gardaí. 

The Department of Integration had earmarked the former Crown Paints building to house asylum seekers but the site caught fire four times over the past week. 

Several Gardaí have been injured in recent days and, speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Galligan described Gardaí as “not well equipped” to deal with such high levels of violence. 

“Young Gardaí, some of them are just fresh out of Templemore [and are now] on the frontline [and are] ill equipped to deal with violent situations like this here,” he said. 

“I think the Garda senior management have a lot of questions to answer in relation to public order incidents - they have a public order incident command policy which doesn’t seem to be working at all. 

“It’s more concerned that Gardaí abide by statutory and common law than they are in relation to looking after themselves and those they’re there to protect - which is the public. 

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen in the media as well, one frontline member talked about being left like lambs to the slaughter in relation to the Coolock incident.”

Gardaí in Coolock. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Mr Galligan said Gardaí can call for support from other stations but it can take hours before their colleagues arrive to help them. 

“Gardaí are pulled from different stations, who are trained in public order instances,” he said. 

“But Gardaí should not just be trained in public order instances after joining the force, they should be trained at Templemore. 

“Gardaí were saying they have no helmets when they go into incidents like this here… and then they have to wait for guys to be collected at various stations.” 

Gardaí in Coolock. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Mr Galligan said An Garda Síochána should consider establishing a ‘Rapid Reaction Unit’ that can be quickly deployed to an area when trouble breaks out. 

“It’s important we have a graduated response when you know this and you have on the ground intelligence that something serious is going to happen and with a flick of a switch, these peaceful protests then turn into violent protests - and very quickly,” he said. 

“Then you need to have a quicker response from both senior management and those on the ground. 

“For Gardaí to go out there in uniform… and be pelted with stones, bricks and bottles for hours on end before the Public Order Unit arrives is not good enough.” 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the scenes of violence witnessed in Coolock “cannot be tolerated” and said those responsible would be brought to justice.

Main image: Gardaí in Coolock. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie