Gardaí must stop protestors harassing politicians outside their homes instead of “sitting there and watching,” a Green Party TD has said.

On Lunchtime Live today Neasa Hourigan said everyone, whether a “politician, bus driver or a nurse,” has the right to be free from intimidation.

She was speaking as the west Dublin home of Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman was targeted by protestors last night.

They attached banners to his gates reading ‘South Dublin Says No’ and ‘Close the Borders’ while wearing face coverings, as Gardaí maintained a presence nearby.

Intimidation

Deputy Hourigan said Gardaí should not have sat idly by during the protest.

“I can’t understand how nothing was done; if nothing else it was trespassing to go up to someone’s private home and start erecting posters,” she said.

“If someone did it to anyone else, they’d say: ‘How dare you’.

“From what we saw from the videos, the Gardaí are sitting there and watching them doing it - they are masked men gathering outside to intimidate.”

Neasa Hourigan. Photo: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

The Green Party TD said she was particularly concerned by the use of face coverings.

“They [protestors] seem to understand the Gardaí are now operating on a ‘do not interfere’ basis and they know they won’t be picked up,” she said.

“They know if they keep the mask up, they won’t be identified for a later time, so it’s actually very hard to know if it’s the same people doing it each time.

“They’re masked so you can’t build up a file on someone to say this is someone who does it regularly, a repeat offender.

“This is about intimidation, it’s about being aggressive and harassing someone.”

Escalation fears

Deputy Hourigan fears this intimidation may soon escalate.

“Will it get to the stage that people won’t want to live near a politician because of what that brings with it – it’s terrifying,” she said.

“I don’t know why we’re letting people away with this.”

Minister Roderic O'Gorman outside Government Buildings briefing the media, 23-5-23. Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said those outside Minister O’Gorman’s house last night should not be called protestors.

“I’ve been at many protests and have never seen people wear balaclavas there,” he said.

“We’ve had a softy-softy approach to these people for too long; we’ve seen politicians being harassed outside the Dail, we seen Martin Kenny have his car burnt out.

“We’ve also seen any number of public meetings being disrupted.”

Threat of violence

The Dublin Central TD said it's also “not the first time we’ve seen politicians' homes come under attack” either.

“If you go to a person’s home and place placards with all sorts of misinformation - it’s threatening and border-line violence,” he said.

“This is going to escalate and we’ve seen it happen in the UK where politicians have literally been murdered on the street.

“I can’t for the life of me understand why we are not dealing with this and the seriousness it deserves.

“I have disagreements with Roderic O’Gorman on different issues of policy and that’s fine but people can’t just go up and intimidate him outside his home".

Main image: Gardai are seen in this March 2021 file photo. Picture by: Damian Coleman / Alamy Stock Photo