Several hundred people attended a march opposing a migrant centre in Newtownmountkennedy yesterday afternoon. Local people told Gript media that they believed there will be a concerted attempt to move men into the centre over the next few days, and that the cohort will possibly be made up of men currently occupying tents close to the IPAS offices on Mount Street.
The march followed Thursday’s protest which ended in what many have claimed was a heavy-handed Garda response which involved the use of pepper spray and the use of batons against residents of housing estates close to the IPAS accommodation centre at River Lodge.
Local Councillor John Snell also told Gript that the government was ignoring the people at their peril, and he criticised the ‘heavy handed’ actions of the Garda riot squad in Newtownmountkennedy and said “decent people” were left with injuries.
"Ignore the people at your peril": Cllr John Snell has criticised the 'heavy handed' actions of the Garda riot squad in Newtownmountkennedy and said "decent people" were left with injuries. A large crowd marched from the town to the proposed IPAS centre today. pic.twitter.com/mY3nx92cXt
— gript (@griptmedia) April 27, 2024
Although there were no speeches made on Saturday, there was palpable anger at what had taken place earlier in the week. The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, on Friday denied that the Gardaí were heavy handed and claimed members of the force were attacked.
However, local people said that the protest had been peaceful for weeks and that it was a “disgrace” that the Government had “bullied the people of Newtownmountkenneddy to force a hugely unpopular immigration policy on them”.
Gript Media reporter @fatima_gunning was pepper-sprayed this evening by a member of An Garda Siochána in Newtown Mount Kennedy, despite having repeatedly and audibly identified herself as a working journalist. pic.twitter.com/Dk8YR6DlKO
— gript (@griptmedia) April 25, 2024
They said that government ministers and senior gardaí would be wheeled out to say the events in Newtownmountkennedy “were a disgrace and should never have happened.”
“They are right. It is a disgrace that the government bullied the people of Newtown to force a hugely unpopular immigration policy on them. They will tell us that the wearing of balaclavas is intimidating. Again, they are right – and the people of Newtown were actively intimidated by the gardai forcing balaclava clad drivers and workers at 2am onto a site where there had been a peaceful protest held for the last six weeks.”
Another march is happening right now in the town with even bigger numbers than yesterday.