Once Again All the News That Fits To Print: Gardai Infringing Civil Liberties Bigtime:

national | summit mobilisations | feature Sunday April 25, 2004 09:44 by &

Has the Power of the Gun Gone to their Heads or What?

More Terrorism by (English) Tabloid
I'm impressed. Yesterday's Irish Times had a story which included the fact that the army NBC teams would be on standby and today two tabloids run the hysterical versions (chemical and nuclear espectively). Chances of the Sunday Star having a Anarchist Bioterror Threat story? It's nice to see that they're at least having to put some proper effort into spreading this nonsense now.

Is Pot Kennedy an Agent Provocateur?
Dear Pat, - I watched with great interest your show this Friday and was very surprised when i discovered that neither you, nor your security expert Guest, appeared to be aware what the description, Agent Provocateur, actually means, this is despite your lengthy discussion on this subject. Contrary to your discussion, Agent Provocateurs are universally agents of the state who are there with the specific purpose of inciting criminal activity from those who would otherwise remain peaceful.

Gardai Want to Restrict Right to March on Mayday
"The hype around the Mayday protests smacks of the methods of George Bush. This is beginning to look like the deception of Weapons of Mass Destruction – a ficitional threat was used to justify a murderous war in Iraq and now we have the Irish Government and the Police creating a fictional threat as a way of curbing the right to protest and undermining basic civil liberties. We believe that the main aim of the hysteria that has been generated by the Gardai around the Mayday protests, is to justify draconian police methods around the visit of George Bush and to discourage the public form participating in those protests."

Street Hassle: Gardai Stalk Activists Distributing leaflets (1) (2)

Bring The Noise Bloc
We want to march to Farmleigh House to express our dissent. We have the right to protest in our own city. If we are stopped by police lines it is our intention to find ways around them.

Is the Hype an Excuse to Arm the Gardai Permanently?
Rory Hearne, convenor of the May Day march and Carnival said "the call by Mr P J Stone from the GRA for front line Gardai to be armed on May Day is completely irresponsible and inflammatory. The reality is that all protests planned for May Day are peaceful. This talk of riots and police being injured is unnecessary and is being hyped up out of all context and perspective. We really have to begin to question the motives for all this. Are these the first steps towards an armed police force and a police state?

All the Mayday News that Fits – Mayday IMC Filter

Independent Media Festival Calendar

Next thing you know they’ll be deporting citizens and setting up internment camps and have the army on the streets ;-)
A two-pronged strategy which one can only assume is directed from the highest levels of government is being implemented by the Gardai in the days immediately preceding the Mayday protests planned for Dublin. One prong is the sustained, repeated release of statements and insinuations which allege that violence is the aim of the protestors. This is taking place in spite of the fact that all of the organisations behind the protests have made their intention to peacefully protest very clear. The government has been assisted in pursuing this anti-democratic, scaremongering by a mostly compliant press which has produced hysterical, unsourced and unsubtantiated material on the subject for several months now. P.J. Stone of the Garda Representatives Association has been the only representative of the Gardai to make false claims in public on the matter. It would appear that the official arm of the Gardai (public servants supposedly) are reluctant to make official statements and instead have contented themselves with sinister leaks to compliant and complicit journalists. The other prong is a much more immediate and physical one: the actual following, stopping and questioning of activists who are inviting fellow citizens to take part in protests against the EU and it’s racist, militaristic and neo-liberal agendas. They have also let it be known, according to newspaper reports, that they have a room set up for the purpose of ‘monitoring websites’ in the run-up to Mayday (hello guard). Chilling of freedom of speech how are you? Now is it just us or is there a common thread emerging from somewhere in the general direction of the Justice Department? Midnight deportations, racist scaremongering, scaremongering about young people who are actually interested in political life and activity, snooping on people (you don’t really think they’re all just ‘reading’ those websites do you? Shur they do that at home), following people around and harrassing them because they are distributing leaflets, arming unaccountable police forces to the teeth, shutting down parts of a city, denying the fundamental right to protest and be heard, demonising political opponents, using the media as a weapon? Next thing you know they’ll be deporting citizens and setting up internment camps and have the army on the streets ;-)

Call for Pink and Silver Bloc
We want to do this in a collective structure based on affinity groups, one that cherishes decentralisation and autonomy alongside solidarity and coordination. For our part we will make our effort at Farmleigh, and whoever wants to come to the party is warmly invited. Whatever our actions turn out to be, we want them to be something we will never forget, and forever tell good stories about. Bring your teddy bear and stinkybombs.

Grassroots Statement in support of Another Europe is Possible Carnival
Over the past few weeks, Garda statements have indicated an intention to prevent large groups of protestors from gathering, to deploy armed gardai on Dublin streets from next Monday, to erect temporary detention centres and to use the Army against protestors. Recently the freedom of other EU citizens to travel to the May Day events has been called into question, most notably by Lord Mayor Royston Brady. This week, activists have complained of Garda harassment while leafletting residential areas. "Neither Dublin Grassroots Network nor Another Europe Is Possible have called off their events. We stand by our right to express our opinion", Grassroots Spokesperson Laurence Cox said.