Your morning briefing from The Irish Times: Use of mock gallows investigated, and the day Veronica Guerin played soccer for Ireland

Dáil protests: Use of mock gallows investigated as potential criminal offence

The erection of a mock gallows at a far-right protest outside Leinster House on Wednesday is being investigated as a potential criminal offence.

The gallows was covered with images of political figures including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

A figure in a suit with bundles of cash in its pockets and photos of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman were hung from the noose.

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The best from Opinion

• Spinal surgeries scandal a painful reminder of how Ireland continues to fail its young: Ireland is a land rich with children’s fairy tales. There once was even a president of the country whose wife, Sinéad Bean de Valera, wrote books of magical Celtic fables. The adventures of Oisín in Tír na nÓg and Fionn Mac Cumhaill with his salmon of knowledge wove a comfort blanket that our forebears wrapped around themselves, writes Justine McCarthy.

The Big Read

• Who are the Oireachtas protesters and what were they protesting against?: The protest, dubbed Call to the Dáil by its organisers, was heavily promoted on far-right social media channels and was chiefly aimed at protesting against Helen McEntee’s stalled hate speech Bill. Based on the speeches and placards on display, writes Conor Gallagher, it morphed into a protest against a wide variety of issues including, but not limited to, asylum seekers and refugees; trans rights; sex education in schools; the World Economic Forum; vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines; globalisation; and support for Ukraine.

Culture and Life & Style highlights

• Culture Night 2023: A guide of 26 events to see and do today: Get your party shoes or your walking boots on: Culture Night is tonight, September 22nd. The 18th edition of this diverse celebration of culture, pulled together by the Arts Council in partnership with local authorities, cultural and community organisations across Ireland, offers a whopping 1,700-plus events in villages, towns and cities. And all events are free.
• Who would be a ‘Trinity W**ker’? World’s oldest debating society teases out contentious motion: Is “w**ker” a word that comes to your mind when you think of a student of Trinity College Dublin? On Wednesday evening, this was the tongue-in-cheek topic of debate at Trinity’s Hist – or Historical Society, to give it the formal name. It was a big week for the 253-year-old Hist, which, on Monday, was formally recognised by the Guinness World Records as being the world’s oldest college society.

Today’s Business

Top Sports news

• Rugby World Cup: Settled Ireland at peace before big South Africa battle: Whatever degree of performance anxiety may have affected the Ireland team in Japan four years ago, there has been little visible sign of nerves this week in the Irish camp. The closer Saturday’s mighty World Cup Pool B collision with South Africa looms into view, the more Andy Farrell, Johnny Sexton et al exude an almost Zen-like calm.
• Valid questions remain over Comer case but anti-doping systems worked on the ground: If Irish racing’s regulator was a boxer the towel might reasonably have been thrown in long ago as it has been a reputational punchbag for much of the last decade. So, for a change, credit where it’s due to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s (IHRB) prosecution of what ranks as the industry’s most extensive ever drugs scandal.

Martyn Turner

Letters to the Editor

Sir, – The protests at Leinster House are a reflection of an increasing level of violent behaviour that has gradually been allowed to take hold in our society. In recent years, we have become familiar with violent incidents on the streets of our towns and cities, assaults on gardaí, increasing violence against women, assaults on hospital staff, anti-social behaviour on our transport systems, etc. On occasions, these problems are viewed in isolation from each other but they are all part of a gradual drift towards an increasingly violent society.

Now that this behaviour has reached the gates of Leinster House, perhaps it is time to reflect on how we have managed this problem up to now. How effective, for instance, is the “de-escalation approach” which the gardaí employ in the management of public order incidents? Perhaps excessive tolerance and light-touch law enforcement have contributed to the present situation. One thing is certain: a comprehensive review of existing policy is essential if we are to effectively deal with the level of violence that exists in our society today. – Yours, etc,

EAMON O’FLYNN, Dublin 4

Video & Podcast Highlights

Review of the day

• Natural but nervous Maura Derrane struggles to lift RTÉ’s misfiring 9am slot: It’s hard to believe, given that she has been a fixture in Irish broadcasting for more than two decades, that Maura Derrane had never worked in radio until less than a fortnight ago. And yet, listening to her stint as the latest presenter of The Nine O’Clock Show (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), it becomes easier to credit.

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