Thirteen charged after Irish parliament protests

Image source, PA Media

At a glance
  • Thirteen people have been charged after protests in Dublin
  • Demonstrators gathered as politicians reconvened after a summer break
  • Politicians were escorted out of parliament buildings by Irish police on Wednesday evening
  • A senior investigating officer has been appointed to investigate Wednesday's events

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Thirteen people have been charged after protests took place outside Irish parliament buildings on Wednesday.

It comes as politicians returned to the D谩il (Irish lower house of parliament) chamber after a summer recess.

TDs and senators were escorted by garda铆 (Irish police) out of Leinster House due to the demonstrations.

Garda铆 said a senior investigating officer has been appointed to coordinate and investigate the circumstances regarding Wednesday's events.

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A spokesperson said a policing operation had been put in place to facilitate the resumption of the 33rd D谩il involving uniformed and plain-clothed officers.

The protest was not about a single issue, but .

大象传媒 News NI reporter Darran Marshall at the scene

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I spent the day at the Leinster House with my cameraman gathering interviews for a report for Thursday night鈥檚 The View.

We arrived on Kildare Street just after 09:30 to a ring of steel and a very significant Garda presence.

The main road outside the D谩il was closed and dozens of protesters had gathered across the road on Molesworth Street.

At this stage, the number of police officers almost outnumbered the number of protesters.

By midday, the atmosphere was much more tense.

As politicians arrived at the main gates - for the first day of the new political term - the crowd鈥檚 chants and abuse grew louder. Throughout the day the numbers surged.

Some in the crowd were aggressive. My cameraman and I were verbally abused by some.

At times it felt threatening, scary even.

When we were leaving at about 17:00, we decided to exit via a back gate on Merrion Street, close to government buildings. It had been much quieter there.

But it was at this stage the crowd started to move towards this exit.

Leinster House security staff closed the gates and the Irish Parliament was in a virtual lockdown.

Image source, PA Media

Image caption, Protestors gathered outside Leinster House in Dublin on Wednesday

Oireachtas (Irish parliament) staff and members of the media were subject to threats and verbal abuse.

T谩naiste (deputy prime minister) Miche谩l Martin described the actions of those involved as "unacceptable and reprehensible".

He said: "We live in a parliamentary democracy, notwithstanding the flaws in any democracy, there is no need for that sort of behaviour outside D谩il 脡ireann."