Vol. 449 No. 6
64 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice the number of Gardaí who were on duty inside Lansdowne Road Stadium, in the environs of Lansdowne Road and in Dublin city centre at 6.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 15 February 1995; and the number of students from Templemore, if any, who were on duty inside the grounds at and preceeding 6.15 p.m. on that day. [4199/95]
When I made my statement to the Dáil about the soccer violence at Lansdowne Road on 15 February I said that my information, from the Garda authorities, was that approximately 800 members of the Garda Síochána were deployed around Dublin on the night of the 15th with over 400 of those gardaí being deployed in and around the immediate vicinity of the stadium.
The numbers deployed as well as various other aspects of what took place was the subject of comment and controversy, then and subsequently, which was why I also announced in my statement that I had asked the former Chief Justice, Mr. Thomas Finlay, to report to me on the matter. I have since published Mr. Justice Finlay's terms of reference and he has already commenced his task.
As the whole question of Garda deployment is one of the matters which will come within the scope of Mr. Justice Finlay's inquiries, I hope the Deputy will agree with me that the right course now would be to await the Judge's findings on all of these matters. I have asked Mr. Justice Finlay to report to me within three weeks of his appointment and I have indicated that it is my intention that, with Government approval, his report will be published.
