Homeless dad: Armed Garda response ‘out of proportion’
Homeless father Gerard Doyle said the response to a dispute he has with a hostel his family is in — during which the Armed Support Unit (ASU) was dispatched — was “totally out of proportion”.
He claimed gardaí were called to the Dublin city centre hostel after being told he was holding his wife hostage in their bedroom.
Garda sources confirmed they responded to a reported barricade incident involving a man acting aggressively and possibly having a knife, and that a decision was made to dispatch the ASU, who are trained to deal with such situations.
Gardaí said that after members of the ASU spoke to the man, they left as they were satisfied no one was under threat.
A Garda statement said they attended the hostel at 11am and added: “The occupants were advised this incident regarding eviction was a civil matter and gardaí left the scene.”
Mr Doyle said: “I just explained to them and they left.”
The incident at the privately-run hostel on Gardiner St, used by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE), sparked an immediate response by the Take Back The City (TBTC) campaign, involved in last week’s repossession protest.
Mr Doyle claimed the events stemmed from a relatively minor dispute at the hostel involving his children, aged five and six. He claimed the family were being ordered to vacate the emergency accommodation.
He said after he got his children to school he and his wife barricaded themselves in their room using a bed. He said they had been in the hostel for nine months and were not going anywhere.
In a statement, the DRHE said they were aware of the incident and had been in contact with the operator.
The premises on Gardiner Street is utilised as Emergency Accommodation and is contracted from a private operator. Management of the premises is a matter for the operator,” it said.
“Some incidents have occurred at the premises and the management informed the DRHE this morning that they could no longer accommodate this family for reasons of good management and health and safety.
“The DRHE has contingency facilities in place to accommodate families in a crisis situation such as this when the need arises.”
Eoin Ó Faogain of TBTC said when he arrived he saw an ASU member coming out “with guns and battering ram on their person”. He questioned the procedures used by the hostel.
Michelle Connolly of Dublin Central Action Committee said any dispute should go through normal mediation processes.
