Between various rabble crew being on holidays or sessioning it up at Boomtown in Winchester last weekend we’re a bit slow when it comes to blogging and news aggregation right now. As a result we totally missed this slice of hip hop protest from Captain Moonlight about continued ructions in Kilkenny over the construction of a new road. Moonlight’s a rabble favorite and the protest ditty features his usual dogged wit and vocal … Read More
Oh My God, They’ll Kilkenny…
Despite 10,000 signatories to a petition against it and newspaper polls showing 88% of locals opposed, Kilkenny Council look set to approve a controversial construction project that could ruin the medieval city. Gardaí swooped at 4am Friday morning last to ensure protestors wouldn’t block the passage of seven heavily laden trucks. This marked the first step of a project that has enraged local Kilkenny people and looks set to … Read More
A Garda Greatest Hits Parade…
When we posted video footage of the Garda riot at Reclaim The Streets 2002 on Facepuke back in May, we winced when some of ye didn’t instantly recognise it. Not remembering World Cup 1990, fair enough – RTS? Shit, some of ye really are green around the ears. Us old codgers dusted off some memories of pigs misbehaving and compiled some of the worst incidents for #rabble8. … Read More
Booze 2 Go.
The Garda Ombudsman has reported on the investigation into the strange case of the €35,000 worth of booze claimed to be ordered by Shell for Gardaí stationed near Rossport. It concludes ‘No evidence of the purchase or delivery of alcohol to garda stations, nor of any misconduct of garda members, has been found as a result of the investigation.’ The back story here via the Guardian is followed (further below) by … Read More
Little Girl Dyes Her Hair So Gardaí Don’t Take Her Again.
The Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan has published a report 9 months after two Roma children were taken by Garda after ethnic profiling. The Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald and the Taoiseach Enda Kenny both apologised today, which will stick in the craw of all the Fine Gael supporters who were cheering on what they hoped was a crackdown on Roma people. While Fine Gael councillors and prospective TDs publish anti-Traveller … Read More
Serpico
Independent TD Mick Wallace revealed new allegations made by a retired garda, Jack Doyle, in a 27 page dossier and called for the Government to appoint a new Garda chief from outside the country. The Irish Examiner reported that: Mr Doyle said a drug runner had told him there were opportunities to arrest the boss of a criminal gang but they failed to do so because “they have a senior Garda in their … Read More
The Ombudsman’s False Teeth.
An Garda Siochana and GSOC. They don’t like each other, right? You would expect this type of relationship between the police and a body tasked to tackling police abuses and corruption. Immediately after allegations of GSOC’s surveillance surfaced, teeth were bared, fur flew and blood was drawn. Mark Malone takes stock of the scrap. The commissioner and Alan Shatter both came out with statements riddled with half truths. But after … Read More
Tackling The Drug War On The Home Front.
Throwing all jokes about students and sensible drug consumption aside, Students For Sensible Drug Policy Ireland are set to challenge the state’s prescriptive strictures on drug use.Rashers Tierney catches up with Seán Lynch. He’s a founding member of the group and it’s their first conference this weekend. You lot represent the Irish wing of a more international movement. Can ye tell me how you got set up here and what the aims of … Read More
Ethnic Profiling In Ireland
Despite Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s recent denials, ethnic profiling is a part of our policing. Phoenix FM‘s Freda Mullin Hughes spoke to Aisling Twomey of Pavee Point about this issue. Aisling Twomey: One of the things that’s been very worrying for us lately is news of what’s emerged about the Garda PULSE system and particularly about Traveller and Roma children being recorded on it and given criminal intelligence numbers. … Read More
See Ye All In Coppers
The visits of her Maj and Barack O’Bama saw thousands of Gardaí loll about an empty city centre for days on end and a policing bill of over €35m. In contrast the heavy policing of serious violence in Northern Ireland’s ‘Fleg’ disputes saw a total cost of £15m. Why so much here? Figures released in Northern Ireland showed a total policing cost of £15.6m over the two … Read More