The history of An Garda Síochána is a long litany of violence against citizens, of indiscipline, insubordination and ineptitude, corruption and illegality, of ill-treating detainees, botched investigations and much more – wrongdoing revealed by tribunals of inquiry culminating in the extraordinary findings of the Morris Tribunal whose recommendations still blow in the wind, in court trials and in debacles like the latest one that brought down the Minister for Justice.
The right to dissent peacefully is a cornerstone of democracy. Nevertheless, since the foundation of the Irish state, police violence has been routinely used to suppress protest movements – most notably protests by the most marginalised in society.?