Gardaí will 'stand up in any forum' and defend Irish Water-protests policing
The group representing rank-and-file gardaí has said people should make complaints if they think gardaí are using excessive force.
The Garda Representative Association said three members were being assaulted every day by anti-water charges protestors.
Protestors held rallies outside a garda station in Coolock earlier this week, complaining about what they see as bullying tactics.
But GRA president Dermot O'Brien said there were options available if anyone wanted to complain.
"There have been videos on various social media…These people, if they feel something has happened, have avenues they can go down," he said.
"The members I represent will stand up in any forum and defend what they have done and their reasoning behind it."
Meanwhile, the campaign group Right2Water has issued the following statement:
"Right2Water is an independent umbrella group comprising five trade unions (Unite, Mandate, CWU, CPSU and OPATSI), Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, the Anti-Austerity Alliance,the Workers' Party, the Communist Party of Ireland, independent public representatives and the community-based Spectacle of Defiance and Hope.
"Over the past month Right2Water organised a major demonstration in Dublin, attended by 100,000 people, and over 100 local demonstrations attended by over 150,000 people.
"These events were organised with the full cooperation of the Gardai, and no arrests were reported at these events.
"Right2Water is committed to campaigning peacefully for the recognition that water is a human right, and for the abolition of domestic water charges.
"Right2Water believes that the Gardai have been put in an invidious position by the Government’s massively unpopular water charges policy, which has forced the Gardaí to balance different sets of rights – which must include the right to peaceful protest."
