*Cllr Dinny Gould (IND). Photograph: John Mangan
A WEST Clare councillor has called for a member of An Garda Síochána to be “reprimanded” for allegedly using pepper spray on a fourteen year old during the recent fuel protests.
Protesters in Co Cork who blocked off access to the country’s only oil refinery in Whitegate have claimed that a fourteen year old boy was pepper sprayed by a Garda on duty earlier this month.
Four busloads of Gardaí were required to clear the protestors as their blockade had led to shortages of fuel at service stations across the country. According to Gardaí, the protestors were “creating a risk to State security”.
Speaking at a meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Dinny Gould (IND) was strong in his criticism of Gardaí. “The Government responded very badly especially Michael Martin who spoke very badly, I couldn’t support Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael with what went on, it was very bad when they were bringing in the army to sort out people who are paying their taxes and are keeping the country going”.
“The Garda who pepper sprayed the fourteen year old boy should be reprimanded,” the Cree elected representative maintained.
Price increases cannot be sustained by the public, Cllr Gould stressed while pointing out the Government were fortunate this crisis was not occurring in the middle of winter. “This won’t go away, something has to be done”.
“It is alright for the people in the cities, they can hop on a train in Dublin, Limerick or Cork, Galway, we can’t in West Clare and there was no diesel to be got in West Clare for the weekend,” the first elected of the Kilrush LEA councillors in 2024 added.
