On December 30th of last year Gardai shot dead 27-year-old George Nkencho, outside his family home in Dublin. George had allegedly assaulted a shop worker in a nearby supermarket before Gardai followed him home. He was armed with a knife throughout the incident and had threatened Gardai.
Gardai would later say they had used non-lethal methods over a period of time in an attempt to subdue George. When these tactics didn’t work, amid fears the situation was escalating, Gardai fired, killing him. A GSOC investigation began in the aftermath, as is standard in such incidents. However, the family of George Nkencho has expressed concern about the investigation – one of the main reasons being that it took 28 days for GSOC to interview members of the family, who had been some of the closest witnesses to the shooting.
In the aftermath of the shooting race became a major factor in the discussion around the incident. The Irish Independent reported that an Garda Síochána sources were "very concerned" by "lies" being circulated widely online about George, by "fascists and racists". Since the incident the family have received racist hate mail at their home. Pat spoke with George’s younger sister, Gloria, who was in the house that day, and who tried to intervene in the situation outside the home.
Listen and subscribe to The Pat Kenny Show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.
You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.
