Gardaí photographing people at Sinn Féin Easter commemoration to be raised

Maurice Quinlivan

A FORMAL COMPLAINT is to be made to Fine Gael Justice Minister Alan Shatter and the Garda Commissioner after Garda detectives took photographs of people attending the Sinn Féin Easter Rising commemoration in Limerick City on Sunday.

Councillor Maurice Quinlivan said:

This commemoration was a perfectly legal and public event organised by the fourth-largest political party in the state.

We are a political party to which around 400,000 across Ireland give us their first-preference vote.

We have 14 TDs in the Dáil.

The presence of Garda detectives taking photographs of those attending the commemoration and acting in an intimidatory manner was both unnecessary and provocative.

Perhaps these people need to be told once again about the realities of the Peace Process or maybe there is a new policy of harassment of all republicans in place with Fine Gael and Labour back in power.

Apart from all that it was surely a scandalous waste of Garda resources.

Sinn Féin will not meekly tolerate such behavior on the part of the Garda.  The days when they could intimidate and threaten our members with impunity are well gone.