Who does this government serve? Protest crackdowns and neutrality debates spark outrage
Garda at the scene of the Mothers Against Genocide protest outside Leinster House.
On March 25, amid chaotic scenes in the Dáil, the Ceann Comhairle approved a controversial vote on speaking rights. In an arrangement that breaks with parliamentary procedure norms to date, government TDs will be given speaking slots that cut into the time allocated to the Opposition to hold the government to account — a central component of a functioning democracy.
Beyond the question of speaking rights, the manner in which the vote was cast is deeply problematic. It sets a dangerous precedent, which may see the government railroad legislative proposals through the Dáil circumventing pre-legislative scrutiny, which is the democratic prerogative of the Oireachtas. Indeed during the previous government, which was also dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, along with 22 other organisations, published an open letter sounding the alarm on ‘abuse of parliamentary processes’ and the ‘rushed and truncated nature’ of legislative proceedings.
On March 26, a motion calling for a plebiscite on the Triple Lock, which Taoiseach Micheál Martin previously described as being ‘at the core of our neutrality’, was defeated. The rationale for the motion was to ensure respect for the democratic process, allowing the people to have their say on a matter of national importance. It is worth recalling that the Triple Lock was introduced during the second Nice Treaty referendum and commitments to it were reaffirmed during Lisbon referendum debates.
Dismantling the Triple Lock is not merely a minor legislative matter, it constitutes a fundamental shift in Ireland’s neutrality, a policy that has characterised Ireland’s engagement in international affairs since the foundation of the state.
A recent Ireland Thinks opinion poll showed that 75% of Irish people support neutrality, a result reflected across all age-groups, regions and political parties, indicating that the government has no mandate whatsoever to dismantle the Triple Lock, even among its own voter base.
In a healthy democracy, a government would transform such overwhelming support for neutrality into concrete action by holding a referendum to enshrine it in the Irish constitution.
On March 30, Mothers Against Genocide gathered outside the Dáil marking Mother’s Day by commemorating the more than 15,000 children killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged territory. The mothers held a peaceful overnight vigil in solidarity with Palestinian mothers and were planning to deliver a letter to the Government at 10am the following morning. Before they could do so, however, the vigil was broken up by An Gárda Síochána, who arrested a number of protesters, while trampling on the photos of Gaza’s dead children and destroying a symbolic clothes-line of blood-soaked baby-grows conveying a message that called on the government to sanction Israel.
Such searches have a particularly negative impact on women with strict religious and cultural dress codes. The UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners stipulate that invasive searches must not be used to ‘harass, intimidate or unnecessarily intrude upon a prisoner’s privacy’ and may only be used if ‘absolutely necessary’.
Was it ‘absolutely necessary’ that the Irish State strip-search mothers peacefully protesting against a genocide? These actions must be thoroughly investigated. Moreover, the right to freedom of assembly is protected under Irish, European and international law and restrictions to it must be proportionate and necessary.
In contrast to the policing deployed to curtail peaceful protest, the government has failed to deploy any police to Shannon Airport to inspect US military planes, which transit through the airport on an almost daily basis. The duty of An Garda Síochána is to uphold the law, not to facilitate violations of it.
Over the past week Germany’s national carrier, Lufthansa, ‘illegally transported more than a tonne of munitions through Irish territory to Israel on three flights’ according to . Similar overflights transporting tens of tonnes of lethal weapons to Israel have been reported over the past six months with the Irish government seemingly unwilling to take steps to stop them.
In January 2024, Israel was formally put on trial for genocide at the world’s top court in the Hague with Ireland announcing that it will intervene in the case. It is something of a schizophrenic position to hold, however, if Ireland recognises that Israel is perpetrating a genocide on the one hand and will argue as much before the International Court of Justice, while failing utterly to take steps under the Genocide Convention to prevent that genocide from occurring — something which it is legally bound to do under Article I of the aforementioned Convention. Failure to take actions, such as those demanded by Mothers Against Genocide, may render it complicit under article III.
On her recent visit to Ireland, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Dr Francesca Albanese, implored the government to take “concrete actions” in line with these legal obligations.
This blatant disregard for human rights norms in respect of the prevention of genocide, as well as the use of force by police to curb peaceful protest must be understood as part of a broader trend occurring across Europe where authoritarianism is on the rise and the criminalisation of protest, particularly actions in solidarity with Palestine, has become increasingly prevalent.
Any one of these events occurring as an isolated incident is a matter of concern. But the fact that all of the aforementioned events occurred over the course of a week forming part of a pattern that threatens the democratic process of the State is deeply alarming. Peace activists have one simple demand — that the government uphold international law reaffirming Ireland's commitment to peace and neutrality, particularly at a time of heightened geopolitical instability that has seen the normalisation of war and genocide. The government however seems intent on running roughshod over the rule of law, marking a low point for the Irish state.
