It seems Ireland has had its 'Capitol Riot' moment. An anti-lockdown protest yesterday afternoon in the centre of Dublin. Several hundred mostly young protesters were there. It was boisterous and protesters were remonstrating with the police but from what I could see of the video footage, nothing violent happened until one guy decided to let off a firework in the direction of the police line. Here's the footage of that incident:
There were also reports of bottles and cans were thrown at the Gardai (Irish police) but it's not clear if this was done before or after the Gardai baton charged the protesters after the firework was let off. Initially it was reported that three Gardai were taken to hospital but other reports today claim that it was just one. And 23 protesters were arrested with 13 charged with public order offences.
From all the footage I've seen it's pretty clear that, apart from a few clowns who were intent on causing trouble, everyone else there was protesting loudly and peacefully. I've no quibble with the guy letting off the firework being arrested and charged. What he did was dangerous and could have caused a serious injury. But it was very much an isolated incident. Even the other protesters were alarmed at this guy's stupidity.
But the politicians, the media and the Garda commissioner had a field day and grossly exaggerated what happened. It was headline news in all the print, digital and broadcast media. It was described by the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, as "mindless thuggery"
Minister of Justice, Helen McEntee, said, "that the
vast majority (!) of people at the gathering were there with the intent to cause disruption and harm under a banner of frustration with Level 5 restrictions." Referring to the injuries of the Gardai she said, ‘We had a broken ankle, perforated eardrum, we had a member who was thrown off a horse." Again, not clear if these were sustained before or after the baton charge.
Deputy Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, claimed that, "
It wasn't a protest, it was a riot, and there wasn't an excuse for using that kind of violence to advance a political cause, no matter what that cause is."
Even the main opposition party, Sinn Fein, chimed in with their own condemnation. One of their parliamentarians said that "what happened yesterday is an absolute disgrace and a slap in the face for our frontline workers"
The condemnation goes on and on and the Irish Twittersphere has joined in too. Basically, practically anyone at the protest, whether anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown or anti-mask, is now being labelled a rioter and thug in the public mind and initial charges against 13 people is only the beginning. Harris has set up a special investigative team to study the footage of the protesters so many more arrests can be expected.
I found it interesting that the Gardai on the lines already had their batons drawn as if they fully expected something violent to happen. They had a huge presence in the city centre and closed public parks in the vicinity before the protest began.
Grossly misrepresenting and exaggerating the nature of the anti-lockdown protest was very convenient for the authorities who were facing growing discontent and anger from the public at what is already an incredibly punishing and long lockdown. They were feeling the heat and there were pleas from the authorities and health officials to " stay the course", and "the end is in sight" despite it being obvious that the future was incredibly vague. (No more lockdowns after this? Eh, can't promise that. No more mask wearing after vaccination? Eh, no, you'll have to keep wearing those. No more than one vaccination? Eh, no, new strains you see. So we can celebrate next Christmas? Eh, no, we'll probably be in the 7th wave of corona by then, so Santa Claus is staying put!)
As I read it, the portrayal of the protest as a riot by thugs was had the effect of snapping the public back in to conformity to lockdown restrictions and to check anyone wavering in their compliance. At least for now.