RTE hands Coolock footage to gardai following court order

Gardai are examining the footage to see if charges can be brought against further individuals involved in the unrest

RTE has handed over documentary footage featuring public disorder to gardai following receipt of a court order.

The Garda Commissioner said he had received the footage of the violent disorder in Dublin which was first broadcast in an RTE Investigates documentary last week.

Gardai are examining the footage to see if charges can be brought against further individuals involved in the unrest.

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The site of the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, Dublin, was subjected to a blockade for more than 100 days after it was earmarked for use to accommodate asylum seekers.

In the early hours of Monday July 15, the Public Order Unit assisted the owner of the site to regain access to the property.

He was accompanied by security and maintenance workers. The Public Order Unit left the scene hours later at 7am.

Soon thereafter, tensions escalated at the site and a digger and mattresses were burned.

The public order unit was later redeployed to the site but security staff at the building had been injured during the intervening period.

34 people have been arrested and 26 people have appeared before the courts charged with offences.

RTE Investigates broadcast footage from the unrest last week showing workers at the site expressing frustration in the response time of Gardai to their calls for assistance, following shouts of racist abuse and the throwing of projectiles.

The footage included what appeared to be bodyworn cameras worn by security on the site on the day.

On Thursday, Commissioner Drew Harris said gardai received the footage which was shown in the documentary.

He had previously said that he first saw the footage during the RTE broadcast.

He said gardai would now assess whether the footage would relate to people who had already been charged or could be used as evidence for additional resources.

In a statement, RTE said: “Following the receipt of a court order, RTE can confirm it has provided An Garda Siochana with footage it recorded inside the former Crown Paint factory for the recent RTE Investigates documentary, while fulfilling its journalistic obligations to protect sources.

"The RTE Investigates documentary demonstrated a clear public interest in highlighting the use of disinformation to initiate violence, showing the extent of how the state has, at times, struggled to respond when these protests have gotten out of control, and raises questions around freedom of speech and intimidation of immigrants, journalists, business people, volunteers and the An Garda Siochana themselves."

Speaking at a meeting of the Policing Authority on Thursday, Mr Harris said 7am would have been the normal finishing time for the public order unit after working through the night

"In hindsight, and a lot of things are very clear in hindsight, that wasn’t the correct decision given what subsequently developed," he said.

Elsewhere, authority member Paul Mageean asked for clarity as to when gardai were informed the contractor wanted to re-enter the site on July 15.

He said he had been told at a previous meeting that gardai had been given only five days’ notice, on July 10.

However, the documentary shows that the contractor met the local superintendent about the matter weeks before that date.

Assistant commissioner for Dublin Metropolitan Region Angela Willis acknowledged a meeting with the contractor and superintendent did occur on June 12, but said the July 15 target for commencing works was put forward only as a "tentative date".

However, she said "many things" had to happen before assuring the security for the work would be put in place for the July 15 date.

"There was an agreement there would be a minimum of seven days’ notice provided of any intended works to commence to the gardai in Coolock to enable relevant planning to take place," she said.

She said the next time the contractor contacted the superintendent was on July 10, when he expressed his desire to move into the site on July 15.

"The superintendent expressed concern that it was very short notice and that he may not be in a position to have an appropriate amount of resources."

She said there were competing demands in the city including at Croke Park and the 3Arena.

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