andDr. O'Connell asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to hold an independent inquiry into the allegations of misconduct by the Gardaí submitted to him on the occasion of the Springboks' visit to Limerick.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Conduct of Gardaí.
9.
Dr. Browne
The answer is "no".
Is it not a fact that 20-30 signed statements made by witnesses to the events that happened on this occasion were submitted to the Minister? Does the Minister propose to take any steps whatever to investigate the validity of the charges either in defence of the gardaí, who are his employees, or in defence of the rights of citizens to make complaints and to have them investigated?
This matter has been investigated by the Commissioner. I already informed the House of that. The chief complainant has been written to. I quote from a paragraph of a letter which I have written on this saying:
"Several of the statements which were forwarded single out for special mention an alleged assault on one named person—a girl—but there was neither a statement from the girl herself nor any explanation for the omission. The Minister is informed that the girl concerned has told the gardaí she has no complaint to make and that she apologised to them for what occurred on that occasion".
The information I have is that this particular group, who had been removed at the request of the local hotel owner, were disowned by the other protesters who carried out a peaceful protest, and that they were responsible for throwing bottles and using vile, obscene language to the gardaí concerned and that the gardaí behaved with great restraint in having them removed with no more force than was necessary. I do not propose to take any further action in this matter. I might mention that the gentleman who complained has intimated that he is going to take legal proceedings and I invite him to go ahead with them.