Gardai deny injured protesters access to hospital

by Starstruck - UCD Left Tue May 04, 2004 17:40

There were several other flags there my friend.I had my Peace flag (which was seized along with a friend of mine in front of the water cannon),there were anarchist flags (red and black), environmental anarchist flags(green and black) as well as various random offerings....not just sWopper flags

by Chekov Tue May 04, 2004 13:45

I picked up two people with head wounds and tried to bring them to the Mater hospital, Aran was one of them. The Gardai denied me access twice (from both ends) to the part of the North Circular Road where the Mater hospital is despite the fact that I made it clear that I had two injured passengers. In the end I had to let them walk from Dorset St. My brother also suffered a confirmed broken wrist after being knocked over by a water cannon.

by Joe Tue May 04, 2004 13:02

Todays irish Times carries some of the press release with their RTS article. Interestingly they follow this with "The claims were denied by Gardai". Can I suggest that those injured and/or denied access to hospital contact the Irish Times at news@irish-times.com or +353 1 6758000 with their stories of what happened so the Gardai press office don't get away with this.

Probably also worth trying to ring into Liveline and other talk shows.

by ToneORe Mon May 03, 2004 22:42

Where is the "Matter" hospital? And what's with this "peeler" stuff? Are you some kind of Dickens character?

by Mol Mon May 03, 2004 18:49

Do you mean stewards? Good idea. Having them was suggested before the march - but un-suprisingly rejected. Reason? Anarchists do not want to police themselves, believe everyone has a right to protest in whatever way they see fit. Admirable ideology? Or just plain irresponsibility?
Incedentaly, Saturday's other large demo - the peaceful Another Europe is Possible one - did have stewards. The orgainiser drew the crowd's attention to that fact before the demo started and asked for a vote as to whether they should be allowed on and would their authority be respected.. All in favour? All against? It was a nice touch. And I saw them do a good job containing trouble on a couple of occasions. That said - I am trying to picture them trying to stop blac bloc doing whatever they wanted to do!!! Not likely. Anyway, peaceful protests do not get media coverage - as evidenced by the mainstream and indy- media over the past couple of days and the difference in coverage of the 2 big marches - both of which had comparable numbers. Pity because the 1st one was very clear about its political message, whereas the 2nd one had a great feel of freedom and people power about it... I really think grassroots organisers were a little naiive about what would happen when they got to police lines. They shouldn't have let all the kids, the curious and the drunken hangers on head straight up to police lines when they stopped their part of the march a few hundred metres b4 it. They should have made it more clear what was happening - hardly anyone even heard the loudspeaker announcement. If they had organised a sit-down protest there with everyone happily singing or disussing issues or just even just drinking a few hundred metres away from the riot police and water cannons,,, how much better would the effect? How many more people would be saying "state overreaction", how much less fear for future protests would there be? How many fewer kids would i have met walking away from it worn out and downhearted saying what was the point of that long march?
You can't stop blac bloc - but you can do your damndest to separate everyone else from it and make sure they know what's going on. Unfortunately, it does take organisation.
It's such a pity that somewhere in all of this, the message keeps getting lost. This was the case again today on RTS - great fun but no indication as to why the party was going on - the only visible flag (apart from the swp's who rightfully were asked to get them down!) was a bleedin' skull and crossbones!!!! Exactly what kind of message is that sending out? Demos aren't just about whistle blowing. Don't be so bloody libertarian that you can't let anyone know what you're about! Be inclusive. Be informed. Be peaceful. Be friendly. Be democratic. Be aware. Be organised. Use the media. Use the system to break it.

by Aran Mon May 03, 2004 16:50

I am fairly experienced when it comes to protests and confrontational situations particularly up North, as bad as the PSNI/RUC are their riot techniques are more effective (from a police point of view) and less bloody.Plenty experience I suppose! For all the hype Mayday was actually quite mild- with only a few empty beer cans and some stones thrown by an already provoked crowd-I dont even want to think about how the gardai would have reacted if they were faced with a constant barrage of bricks,bottles petrol pipe and acid bombs as has sometimes been the case in interface areas particularly in Belfast.Stuarts should try to spot trouble makers and isolate them-why do I get the feeling that both sides are just warming up for the Bush visit?

by Aran Mon May 03, 2004 16:39

After it happened I got dragged into a garden and cleaned up.It started bleeding again so someone- I think from Dublin grassroots toook me and another battered head off in his car.The cops just kept re-routing us.This was to be expected due to the heavy police presence but after a while it just became apparant that we were on a wild goose chase.For a while they had the street the Mater is on (not sure the name) sectioned off.

by riotwatch Mon May 03, 2004 16:09

"I was at the front line assuring cops I wasnt going to break police lines.One peeler hit me with his riot shield and I kicked it. "

That was the whole idea. Cop provokes you, you hit the shield (causing no damage to shield or cop) but giving him excuse to batter you on the noggin.

If you're going to go near the police lines, keep a cool head, don't stand next to a drunk or some 16 yr old anar-kiddy who thinks he's earning his stripes by playing stimulus-response with the cops.

Despite the media hype the trouble didn't look like much more than a few people excited at seeing Riot cops, and riot cops only too happy to push them and hit them.

Of course, IoS and today's Oirish Mirror are still stirring shite.

Supt Farrelly (Garda Press Office) was all over the news telling how they'd done a great job. Neglected to mention denying people access to hospital. Can you provide verification that it happened?

Also worth noting that the number of arrests report is lower than

a> St. Patrick's day- with over 40 arrests.

b> the weekend rally of the lakes in Killarney where again more overindulgence with alcohol led to at least 30 arrests for public order.

According to Garda figures, 90% of street crime in Ireland is drink related. And what do rowdy drunks do when they see riot cops?
they get aggressive.
and the cops know this.
It was a show of force, and escalation. They could have held ye all in place with that deep line of riot cops, the water cannon was just to make it look more dramatic.

by Aran - Sinn Fein Mon May 03, 2004 15:42 praxis808 at yahoo dot com

I was at the front line assuring cops I wasnt going to break police lines.One peeler hit me with his riot shield and I kicked it.Video evidence shows me pleading peacefully with the cops and others with me.A bunch of anarchists got stuck in and some prick of a pig batoned me on the head.I was seen to by medical staff and later required three stitches.The cops re routed us several times on the way to hospital.I agree to a certain extent that some of the protestors should have had more concern for their fellow protestors.Because the cops were either a/ shitting themselves or b/ geared up, some protestors bore the brunt of the actions of others.I blame those drunken idiots who were in no way ideologically driven, just tagged along from O Connell St with the express purpose of causing trouble.

by Paddy Mon May 03, 2004 14:33

What about the tree hugger that got skulled by one of his own by a rock thrown from the main body of protesters. I wonder how many more marchers were injured by their fellow tree huggers ? The Gardai on the frontline, who did an excellent job by the way on behalf of the decent people of Ireland, must have had a great laugh at that one.
Stupid Hippies !

by James Mon May 03, 2004 13:15

St. James has a much better A&E service, expecially for broken bones.

Anyway, only two of those injuries would require hospitialisation, the broken leg & concussion.

the rest would be comfortably treated by any half quailified gp or nurse.

by ihatehuns Mon May 03, 2004 13:06

i presume all these injuries belong to the fuckwit with the celtic top !