Dublin riot: Sinn Fein portraying itself as the party of law and order 'very questionable'

The former senior PSNI officer said the Sinn Fein leader’s demands – in the wake of the rioting in Dublin last week – are nothing more than political opportunism.

Ms McDonald said Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee “have to be held to account” for failing to prevent the disorder that followed a stabbing incident on Thursday afternoon.

“The truth is the minister and the commissioner have failed to resource the gardai correctly, they have failed to bring forward plans for the safety of citizens,” Ms McDonald said.

“I came to the scene around 4pm. At that point it was very obvious to me that there was a very menacing air… there was only a small number of people gathering at that point.

“They (Garda) should have shut down the growing and obvious assembly of people whose determination would be to cause trouble. They have experience of these people before”.

She added: “We now have a scenario where people do not feel safe in parts of Dublin’s inner city – that includes children going to school, their parents and grandparents dropping them off”.

Three children and a school care assistant were stabbed outside a primary school at Parnell Square. Two were later reported to be critically ill.

The attack was rumoured to have been carried out by an Algerian man, fuelling anti immigrant feeling, but the details of the attacker have not been confirmed. Police ruled out a terrorist motive.

The suspected assailant was restrained by members of the public and is also being treated in hospital.

Vehicles were burned, police officers attacked and shops looted as the Garda scrambled reinforcements into the Irish capital.

Jon Burrows said: “Sinn Fein portraying themselves as the party of law and order and demanding tougher policing appears opportunistic considering their recent record in Northern Ireland.

"Sinn Fein not only condemned two junior police officers as being heavy handed when they tried to uphold the law on the Ormeau Rd in February 2021, they actually lobbied senior officers to suspend them. Consistently Sinn Fein have criticised any decisive PSNI intervention during disorder, but then turn on a dime and condemn the police if they take a hands off approach.

"So when the PSNI adopted an evidence gathering and retrospective prosecution strategy at Pitt Park in February 2021, Sinn Fein rebuked the PSNI in the strongest possible terms for not intervening immediately.

"In July 2018 there were six nights of serious rioting in the Bogside in Londonderry, when the PSNI eventually moved in to make arrests Sinn Fein heavily criticised the PSNI for being heavy handed.

"This is a settled pattern, the police are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, sadly this is politics nothing more and nothing less.”

Mr Burrows added: “Sinn Fein… have opposed the roll out of TASER, they condemn the use of baton rounds, they express alarm when a water cannon is used and they jump to conclusions of heavy handed policing without evidence.

“Sinn Féin’s credentials as the party for law and order are very questionable indeed.”