Gardaí believe the same man was behind five ramming incidents in Dublin, at Áras an Uachtaráin and four Government sites, in the early hours of Friday morning over a distance of about some 7km. The suspect, who is in his 40s, is known to gardaí for previous involvement in criminal damage, public order offences and other crimes.
A number of social media posts, in which threats were made, including death threats, in the hours before the attacks were also being reviewed. Gardaí are trying to assess if they were written by the suspect and linked to the attacks that followed.
The suspect in custody on Friday used a white Ford Transit van to ram the main gates at Áras an Uachtaráin before making his way into the city centre, where he rammed gates at the Department of Housing on Custom House Quay.
The driver then drove to Government Buildings a short distance away in the south inner city, where he rammed three sets of gates on Merrion St Upper. Those incidents occurred beside the Attorney General’s offices and at the Department of An Taoiseach, which appeared to be his final attack.
The man was arrested at the scene, having worked his way down Merrion St Upper and carried out the three ramming incidents in quick succession. He drove front first, and also reversed at speed, into the three sets of gates at Government Buildings, knocking some of the gates off their hinges and to the ground.
The driver was initially arrested on suspicion of intoxicated driving, and taken into Garda custody. He was later rearrested for questioning about the criminal damage incidents, which culminated at Government Buildings at about 2.30am.
The suspect, who is from south Dublin, has received medical care while in Garda custody. That care was extended to him on suspicion he had both physical and mental health needs. Gardaí do not believe the attacks were terror-related and one line of inquiry is assessing the man’s mental state at the time of the incidents and in recent days and weeks.
However, Garda sources said the attack was a very serious one, especially given the distance he was able to travel, and damage he caused at key State buildings. He continued with his attacks after an alert had been sent out about him and his vehicle after the Áras an Uachtaráin incident, which damaged the gates there, though they were still in place early on Friday.
“Gardaí were alerted to a single-vehicle road traffic collision on Merrion Street Upper, Dublin 2 at approximately 2.30am on Friday,” Garda Headquarters said in reply to queries.
“The driver of the vehicle, a male in his 40s, was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Road Traffic Act. He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in Dublin city.
“The scene remains preserved to facilitate a technical examination by the local Scenes of Crime Unit this morning. Investigations are ongoing.”
The Irish Times understands a report on the crime spree was being drawn up for Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and the ramming incidents were likely to result in improvements to security at a range of State buildings. This could include improved, more secure, physical infrastructure as well as increasing the number of gardaí deployed, and the nature of the response they could rapidly provide.
Sinn Féin has said it is “hard to understand” how someone was able to carry out several attacks across Dublin before being apprehended.
Justice spokesman Pa Daly said the party would be raising the issue at its next meeting with senior members of An Garda Síochna. His colleague Louise O’Reilly said she found it hard to understand how a person could carry out these attacks in several locations in that manner.
“We will be looking to the gardaí to provide us with information as to how this could have unfolded and how someone was able to travel to three separate locations in Dublin city before being apprehended,” she said.
Gardaí are also investigating another incident in Phoenix Park in the early hours of Friday morning, which was described as “criminal damage” at the Phoenix Gate Lodge. However, no links between that event and the ramming attacks had come to light.
There was visible damage to the gates to the Department of the Taoiseach and to the gates to Leinster Lawn on Friday but they remained in place. However, one of a set of two gates close to the office of the Attorney General was knocked from its hinges. This gate covers a laneway beside and behind the Attorney General’s office and around the back passing the Departments of Finance and Agriculture.
The white van used to ram the gates was extensively damaged, to the front and rear of the vehicle. It was removed by gardaí at about 8am and has been taken for technical examination.
The suspect also appears to have taken photographs of the van crashed outside the Department of An Taoiseach and posted them online just before he was arrested. In the photographs the white van’s driver door is open, with the airbag having activated in the vehicle while the brass Department of An Taoiseach sign visible in the posts, shared one minute apart just after 2.30am.
The area has also been sealed off as a crime scene and was due to undergo a technical examination through Friday. It appears the suspect arrived into the area and rammed the gates despite the presence of 24-7 static Garda posts outside the various buildings.
Some of the buildings are also protected by significant anti-ramming infrastructure, such as barriers that can be raised and lowered to make vehicle access impossible.
The incident, though unusual, is not the first to occur at Government Buildings in recent years, with several break-ins. In 2010, property developer Joe McNamara, known as the Anglo Avenger, was prosecuted for parking a “cherry picker” truck outside Leinster House while the then Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan was making a budget speech. The prosecution was later dropped.
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