Members of activist group Mothers Against Genocide have said they plan to lodge a formal complaint over their treatment at a vigil outside the Dáil on March 31st.
Members of the group were among 14 people arrested following an overnight vigil held for mothers and children killed in Gaza outside the entrance to the Dáil on Kildare Street.
The protesters allege that they were strip-searched by gardaí and that one woman was subjected to a cavity search. Garda Headquarters has denied the claims.
People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett raised the matter in the Dáil, saying the protesters were “arrested violently and strip-searched”.
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Handing the letter over was a really significant part. That’s all we wanted to do last week. We wanted to gather and grieve collectively
“We’ve been demonised,” Nuala Ní Scolláin, a member of Mothers Against Genocide, said on Wednesday. “I’ve heard different stories – people saying we chained ourselves to the gates and stuff. None of that is true. We sat peacefully, as you can see on the videos on social media.
“The women didn’t move from their positions at all. There was no threat.”
Hundreds of people gathered at the Merrion Street entrance to Leinster House on Wednesday evening in support of the campaigners.
At the protest, People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger accepted a letter from the group outlining its demands for Government action around what it regards as complicity in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.
“Handing the letter over was a really significant part,” Ms Ní Scolláin said. “That’s all we wanted to do last week. We wanted to gather and grieve collectively. That’s what we did. We have built a community around what is happening in Gaza, to support other women who are witnessing these atrocities.
I’ve heard different stories – people saying we chained ourselves to the gates and stuff. None of that is true. We sat peacefully
“Our community is a real supportive community. A real loving, heart-led community. We gathered together to grieve and try to gain some hope that the Government will do something to put all the measures that they have in place to end Ireland’s complicity in genocide.”
Ms Coppinger, alongside other speakers at the event, highlighted what she sees as a disparity between the treatment of attendees at left-wing and right-wing protests. She said she would pass the letter from Mothers Against Genocide on to Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
“When the far right started to organise, [there was a] different, hands-off approach. There was a real contrast. I think we’ve seen that in general with protests at refugee centres and migrant centres,” Ms Coppinger said.
“There’s been no such policy adopted by police. There have been fires set. There’s been arson. All sorts of things. I think it needs to be highlighted a lot more.”
