11 arrests were made yesterday afternoon following attempts by anti-lockdown protestors to blockade Dublin Port. At 2pm an ensemble of non-aligned protestors gathered on O’Connell Bridge shortly before making their way east to the North Wall Quay where they were met by a large contingent of Gardai and the Public Order Unit.
After some altercations with the Public Order Unit and a brief blockade of one of the roads heading into the port, including protestors laying in front of trucks, protestors were successfully moved back towards the city centre.
Estimates of the crowd vary but can safely be pegged at approximately 200 or above with the event promoted by the Yellow Vest Ireland group. Previous to this, the Yellow Vests and a loose coalition of anti-lockdown groups had arranged mass demonstrations against the ongoing Covid restrictions, gathering in the region of two thousand for a rally at the Custom House last month.
Following on from the primary demonstration, it would appear that a sizable group of protestors made their way to Grafton Street where they were embroiled in clashes with Gardai. In the aftermath of this, footage emerged of Gardai using batons against protestors, with arrests subsequently being made.
The day’s events come less than one day after the controversial decision to bring Ireland into stage 5 of lockdown, a move judged by some to have calamitous effects on the national economy. With a minimum of six weeks of total quarantine ahead of us, the stage looks set for some serious arrest heading into the Winter months with commotion seen today likely just for starters.
Images from Twitter used for reporting purposes
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