Conor McGregor has been named in the Dail alongside alleged Far Right agitators believed to be behind organising the Dublin riots.
The names of the alleged agitators suspected to be behind the
disturbances had remained unknown to the public up until now. However, they were outed during a fiery debate in the Dail where calls were made for Justice Minister Helen McEntee to be sacked.
Those named included alleged activists such as George Pepper and Derek Blighe. It is highly unusual for the Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail to allow the names of citizens to be read into the Dail record on his watch and he normally asks for such comments to be struck from the record.
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But the Dail chairman did not do so on this occasion, instead limiting his reprimand to reminding members of the standing rules and customs.
Labour TD Aodhan O Riordain said: “ Now we have the pathetic sight of security barriers outside Leinster House, which looks to me like we have surrendered to them. That is now what we have to look at the national Parliament. Those barriers need to be taken down.
“All the while there are celebrities such as Conor McGregor, a gobdaw, and people in this Chamber who use the words ‘criminality’ and ‘immigration’ in the same sentence as often as they can to get some cheap political gain for themselves.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald accused Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of “brazen a**e covering” in her attack on the Government’s response to the incidents of last week.
She added that the actions since then represented an “abject failure of Government” to handle the situation.
The McEntee resignation/sacking calls were led by Sinn Fein, who, while calling for the senior Fine Gael Minister to be removed, have not pushed to call for a motion of no confidence in the beleaguered minister yet. The Government was reeling to defend itself against the accusations that it had failed to protect the public in the wake of the riots outbreak.
Taoiseach Varadkar led the defence, saying it was a mistake to call for serious resignations because they have “consequences” for public safety.
Ms McEntee said that she is seeking to clarify the maximum amount of force that gardai can use in tackling public serious order offences on the streets. However, she said that the Government has ruled out arming ordinary members, adding: “There are, of course, members, who have as part of their work, they have access to arms.
“The reason that Garda Siochana are looked at across the world as an example of an excellent policing service is because of the relationship that members have with the community.
“For the most part that has been aided by the fact that we are an unarmed police force.”
Mr Varadkar said: “Interfering [with] who gets appointed to or removed from positions such as the Garda Commissioner should not be taken lightly, it shouldn’t be taken as the normal cut and thrust of politics. It has consequences and it can be corrosive to the wider justice system and public safety.”
Ms McDonald replied by saying that Minister McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’ positions are “untenable”. She had “zero confidence in the Minister, Government and for that matter the Commissioner himself”.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy used his Dail privilege to name suspected organisers. He said: “We know who incited this riot and called for people to come out on the streets. These people did not hide themselves or issue the calls anonymously. At 2:16pm, a white supremacist, Mick O’Keeffe, issued his first tweet.
“He followed that at 2:50pm, saying a foreign man entered the school and stabbed five children and he said the kids were dead. Fergus Power tweeted at 2:55pm that a five-year-old girl was alleged to have passed away and that ‘this better get people off their a***s and out onto the streets.’
“Philip Dwyer, a creche creeper and dog kicker, streamed a video at 4:04pm in which he said he would be in town at 6pm. Gavin Pepper, another far-right agitator, called people onto the streets for 7pm in town. Derek Blighe had a video in which he said ‘we are at war,’ echoing the words of Conor McGregor. We know who called people out.”
Mixed martial arts fighter McGregor has condemned the riots as “despicable”. He tweeted on Friday: “I do not condone last night’s riots. I do not condone any attacks on our first responders in their line of duty. I do not condone looting and the damaging of shops. Last night’s scenes achieved nothing toward fixing the issues we face.”
Meanwhile the latest addition to the Garda fleet was spotted in Garda HQ in Dublin, a rebranded water cannon truck.
The machine, on loan from the PSNI, is specially designed to deal forcefully and effectively with major public order disturbances.
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