The intimidation and harassment of politicians by so-called protesters must be met with a robust policing response, according to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe alarming scenes we witnessed last night outside the home of Minister Roderic O\u2019Gorman must not be allowed to continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is concerning that no apparent action was taken by garda\u00ed to prevent the targeting of the minister\u2019s home or to ensure that those engaged in this intimidation were either moved on or arrested.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should also be noted that this is not the first time we have seen scenes like this. The home of People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has been similarly targeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, the intimidation and harassment of a public representative by a group of masked men is an affront to democracy and cannot go unchallenged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are witnessing is not protest. It is an attack on democratic values and a challenge to the rule of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a State, we must stand against this sort of threat and intimidation – and ensure that everyone in our society feels safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll politicians, across the divide, must stand together on this issue and fight against those who seek to intimidate and spread division and hate.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome clarity must also, as a matter of urgency, be brought to bear on the policing response to this incident – and others like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen incidents like this happen, there cannot be a \u2018softly, softly\u2019 police response. That approach is emboldening those who are targeting, not just ministers and TDs, but vulnerable migrants and minority communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Justice must now outline what the Garda Commissioner proposes to do to address this type of harassment and prevent it becoming more\u00a0widespread.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 19, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The intimidation and harassment of politicians by so-called protesters must be met with a robust policing response, according to Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns. \u201cThe alarming scenes we witnessed last night outside the home of Minister Roderic O\u2019Gorman must not be allowed to continue. \u201cIt is concerning that no apparent action was taken by garda\u00ed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[496,400,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garda","category-holly-cairns","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n