Speaking after the protest, Councillor Reddy said:
“I personally witnessed Garda brutality and excessive and illegal use of force by the Gardaí against non-violent protesters.
A crowd of around 150 peaceful protestors gathered at the Point Depot/North Wall side of the port, taking inspiration from the mass movement across Europe where millions have participated in acts of peaceful civil disobedience to pressure governments into sanctioning Israel and severing trade links.
As they marched towards the port, protestors were blocked by Gardaí who used pepper spray indiscriminately against them. In some cases, pepper spray was used much closer than the 1 metre minimum distance indicated in Garda protocols for the use of dispersants.
The crowd moved back, retaining a peaceful presence on the R131 towards the port, before a crowd of approximately 100 activists joined them, coming from the massive IPSC (Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign) National Demonstration in the city centre.
The crowd at this point included Palestinians who have lost family members in Gaza, students, older people and people with disabilities.
The crowd decided to move to the other side of the port on the East Wall Road to continue their peaceful civil disobedience.
On arrival, Garda public order units took to the road in full riot gear with long batons drawn and further Garda lines behind them.
Marching on down the road, Gardaí drew their batons and pepper spray at protestors, again indiscriminately spraying members of the crowd and swinging batons dangerously and gratuitously.
There were several injuries at this stage, including a broken wrist and head injuries. Using a baton at head height is again a breach of Garda protocol on the use of force.
Protestors who were sprayed or injured were lying on the road and gathered at the side of the road, where they were washing pepper spray from their eyes and recovering.
Gardaí then drew shields facing a smaller number of protestors and pushed aggressively through the crowd - stepping over injured and sprayed protestors, batoning them again and using serious force on individuals who were no longer resisting.
An order under Section 8 of the Public Order Act was read out and Gardaí continued to push and baton their way through the crowd up as far as the corner of East Road and East Wall Road.
There must be an immediate investigation into this wanton and completely unacceptable Garda violence against peaceful protestors. People Before Profit supports the IPSC’s call for all those assaulted by the Gardaí to document their injuries, contact the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and to consider making a complaint to Fiosrú.
People Before Profit will be seeking an urgent Dáil debate on this matter this week and we are demanding a full statement from the Minister for Justice.
This is the latest in a long line of incidents of Garda brutality against peaceful anti-genocide protesters and contrasts sharply with the softly softly approach taken towards far right anti-immigration protestors.
It shows once again that the Irish state is not on the side of the Palestine solidarity movement and will continue to be complicit in genocide unless workers take matters into our own hands through mass collective action.”