Report Finds That Gardaí Violated Garda Policies and Human Rights Obligations When Policing Protest

The Irish Network of Legal Observers has today published its first report on a recent protest which took place in the vicinity of Dublin’s port tunnel on Saturday 4 October 2025. 

The new Network, which is co-convened by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, fielded a team of seven legal observers to observe the policing of a pro-Palestine demonstration. 

The observers monitored gardaí as they, without justification, restrained and dispersed protesters using force and incapacitant (pepper spray). The report finds that actions of members of An Garda Síochána were in violation of garda policies and also Ireland’s international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. 

This is the first report produced by the Network, established this year to monitor the policing of protests around Ireland. The report is published on the ICCL website and can be found here.