Garda (20s) injured after responding to robbery in Blanchardstown
Officers responded to reports of a burglary shortly before 4am on Thursday morning.
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Two members came across a man with a weapon, understood to be a knife, who became aggressive and threatening.
A Garda in his 20s suffered injuries during the incident - he was taken to Connolly Hospital for treatment.
The weapon was seized along with €1,500 in cash - a man in his 30s was arrested.
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The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Kick It Out: Black players may look to avoid penalties after abuse of Mathys Tel
Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out says players may think twice about taking penalties in future after Tottenham's Mathys Tel received online racist abuse. France Under-21 international Tel is the latest player to be targeted on social media after he missed a spot kick in Wednesday night's UEFA Super League penalty shoot-out defeat to Paris St Germain. The Premier League club lost the shoot-out 4-3 after they had surrendered a late 2-0 lead in Italy to draw 2-2 after 90 minutes. Tottenham said they were 'disgusted' by the abuse directed at Tel and Kick It Out claim social media companies are still not doing enough to combat online racism. A Kick It Out statement read: 'If you're a black player, it would be totally understandable to think, 'Why would I want to take a penalty?' That's the state of the game right now, and the sad fact is, it's nothing new. 'Players are routinely targeted with racism online and want action; we want action, too. 'Accountability from offenders and social media companies is a baseline, but it's not being met. 'Football bodies, authorities, and the regulator Ofcom, must come together to accelerate a plan that better protects players. 'Their welfare should always be paramount, and we stand with Mathys Tel and all those who have suffered this continuing, racist abuse.' Tottenham, who initially signed Tel on loan from Bayern Munich in January before making the move permanent in a £30million deal in June, said the player had shown 'bravery and courage to step forward and take a penalty' . The club said in a statement: 'We are disgusted at the racial abuse that Mathys Tel has received on social media following last night's UEFA Super Cup defeat. 'Mathys showed bravery and courage to step forward and take a penalty, yet those who abuse him are nothing but cowards – hiding behind anonymous usernames and profiles to spout their abhorrent views. 'We will work with the authorities and social media platforms to take the strongest possible action against any individual we are able to identify. We stand with you, Mathys.' Tottenham led 2-0 until the 85th minute at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, through goals from Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero before late efforts from Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos hauled PSG level.
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
I watched the police arrest hundreds of peaceful protesters – I fear Britain is on a slippery slope towards authoritarianism
Last Saturday, I stood in Parliament Square and bore witness to the largest mass arrest in a single day in the last decade. The Metropolitan Police detained 532 peaceful protesters – an operation that will live in infamy. The demonstration was organised by Defend Our Juries, which had called on participants to sit peacefully on the Parliament Square lawn between 1pm and 2pm, holding signs that read: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' Organisers had expected around 500 people. In fact, thousands turned up. That morning, I had published an opinion piece in The Independent announcing that I would be there, holding a sign quoting Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): 'Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.' I also quoted Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, who warned that the UK government's proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation 'appears to constitute an impermissible restriction on those rights that is at odds with the UK's obligation under international human rights law'. When I arrived at 1pm, the square was surrounded by police. Hundreds of Metropolitan Police vans were stationed around the square, stretching as far as Oxford Street. Officers formed cordons to prevent people entering, but I managed to squeeze in. For nearly three hours, I stood in silence, holding my sign. The arrests began shortly after the scheduled sit-in concluded at 2pm. Officers began to position themselves to advance against the peaceful protesters seated on the lawn, and the few lying on the ground. Police reinforcements, including officers from Wales, swept into the square. Of the 532 arrests, 522 were for the simple act of holding placards supporting Palestine Action, under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. The statistics are as shocking as the scenes I saw. According to the police's own figures, 112 of those detained were in their 70s, and 15 in their 80s. Nearly half were 60 or older, with an average age of 54. The police waged a relentless campaign against the protesters. Many were frail, elderly, or disabled. I saw priests and vicars in clerical collars led away in handcuffs. I saw retired nurses and NHS healthcare workers in scrubs being taken into police vans. One of them, Nick, was interviewed, and asked if he was afraid. His reply was very moving and and it almost brought me to tears: 'I'm absolutely terrified. I'm shaking. I'll be honest with you. I nearly cried earlier. The thought of doing something like this is just awful, but it's even more awful if we don't do it. I mean, I think to myself, you know, I've seen things, not on the mass media. I've seen things that cannot ever be unseen. And if we don't protest about it, we're culpable.' I also saw Jewish protesters critical of the Israeli government's actions being arrested alongside climate and human rights activists, including Chris Romberg, 75, a former British Army colonel and the son of a Holocaust survivor. No one was spared. One image that is seared in my mind: an elderly blind man in a wheelchair being dragged away by multiple officers as demonstrators shouted 'Let him go!' and 'Shame on you, shame on you!' I also watched the police arrest a frail woman in her 80s suffering from Parkinson's disease, while her son pleaded with the officers not to arrest her. The Metropolitan Police's motto is 'Working Together for a Safer London', but it is hard to see how dedicating so many resources to policing a peaceful protest and arresting frail and elderly citizens exercising such an ancient British freedom achieves this objective. Jonathan Porritt, former environmental adviser to King Charles, referred to the UK government's policy as 'absolutely standard authoritarian tactics'. 'I've come to the conclusion that the UK government is incontrovertibly complicit in this genocide not just through the continuing sale of arms to Israel, but because of its reckless refusal to follow guidance to seek to prevent genocide in countries like Gaza.' This is exactly how states erode democratic freedoms – not in one sudden lurch, but in small, calculated steps, until dissent itself becomes a criminal offence. The decision to ban Palestine Action was itself the product of a cynical political ploy. Home secretary Yvette Cooper bundled the group together with two violent white supremacist organisations – the neo-Nazi Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement – and forced MPs to vote for all or none. Many later admitted they felt they had no choice but to approve the ban. As Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, has warned: 'Proscribing Palestine Action is a grave abuse of state power and a terrifying escalation in this government's crusade to curtail protest rights.' The crucial issue here is that Palestine Action exposed what it – and many of us – see as the UK's complicity in the commission of genocide by Israel against the Palestinian people. Since December 2023, the RAF has flown more than 600 surveillance missions over Gaza, reputedly to locate hostages. This is why ordinary citizens – older people, clergy, disabled protesters – were criminalised for condemning what we believe to be genocide and demanding accountability. It also begs the question: who does prime minister Keir Starmer answer to – the UK electorate, Donald Trump, or the Israeli government and its lobbying organisations? Let me be clear: I unequivocally condemn Hamas for the atrocities of 7 October 2023. I call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, and the unconditional release of all hostages. I was horrified seeing the images of an emaciated hostage. These crimes demand justice, but not through the carpet bombing of Gaza from North to South, the slaughter of civilians, and what is surely a deliberate policy of starvation of the population. Renowned human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, who has defended Guantánamo Bay detainees, has drawn direct parallels between this crackdown and authoritarian measures elsewhere: 'Supporting Palestine Action's right to protest is not the same as supporting Palestine Action. It's time for Keir Starmer to remember why human rights exist.' Even conservative voices such as Andrew Neil, who strongly disagrees with Palestine Action's aims, have condemned the terrorism designation as absurd and a waste of police time and public resources. What I saw on Saturday was not public order policing. It was the suppression of lawful dissent, and the deliberate targeting of vulnerable people to send a chilling message: no cause is safe from criminalisation. This is the logic of authoritarianism – a steady erosion of freedoms under the pretext of security. I know what authoritarianism looks like. I was born in Nicaragua. In 1981, in Honduras, I faced Salvadorian death squads armed with M16 assault rifles. I had a terrifying experience that changed the course of my life. That experience taught me the importance of bearing witness. I came to Parliament Square to stand with ordinary citizens calling attention to the genocide against the Palestinian people – and the UK government's complicity. The UK government has embarked upon a dangerous path. The right to peaceful protest, the cornerstone of our democracy – from the suffragettes to the anti-apartheid movement – is under attack. The government has conflated dissent with terrorism, and the police have acted as enforcers of political orthodoxy rather than guardians of public safety. When Benjamin Disraeli said in 1845 that 'a Conservative government is an organised hypocrisy', who could have imagined that his words would describe so aptly the current Labour government and its authoritarian home secretary? The question we must ask ourselves is simple: When history judges us, will we be remembered as those who stood against injustice, or those who stood by in silence? Parliament Square on 9 August was not just a police operation. It was a test of our democracy – and it is a test we are in danger of failing.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The Online Safety Act censors dissent, while letting paedophiles roam free
Outrage over the Online Safety Act 's age-verification mandates has tended thus far to focus on amusing, if frustrating, hurdles the law has thrown up for ordinary citizens: issues playing music on streaming services, trouble ordering pizzas and the possibility of Wikipedia going offline for huge chunks of the population. But missing amongst the discussion is a key point. It will fail to protect children because it misdirects attention and focus away from the real problem. Which is that there is far too little investigating, charging, prosecuting and convicting actual paedophiles and child pornographers. I'm not talking about the grooming gangs scandal, though of course that is germane to the discussion. The Online Safety Act has forced censorship of tweets about that particular vile series of incidents, including information that might better equip today's potential victims with information that could enable them to spot grooming behaviour and ultimately stay free of gangs' snares. I'm talking about actual failures to investigate, charge, prosecute and convict those involved in creating, selling, and sharing child sex abuse material where the supposed big, bad guys in the room – the tech companies – have actually alerted the authorities and given them the information they need to arrest abusers and child pornographers. Few policymakers, let alone laymen, are aware that tech giants – the overwhelming majority of which are US incorporated – are required by US law to report instances of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's (NCMEC) CyberTipline. Still fewer are likely aware that when a report is made, 'geographic indicators related to the upload location of the CSAM are used to make the report available to the appropriate law enforcement '. This is what that means in practice: the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children reported that there were 178,648 UK cyber tips made in 2023, overwhelmingly because of reporting by Big Tech firms. Yet Home Office data indicates only 39,640 child sexual abuse image offences in England and Wales in year 2023-2024. That's a small fraction of the volume of CSAM reports made through the CyberTipline. It is true that an apples-to-apples comparison is not 100 per cent feasible. Data in respect of Scotland and Northern Ireland is not included in that 39,640 number. British Transport Police report their data separate to the Home Office. NCMEC compiles its data by calendar year, whereas Home Office data is compiled over a fiscal year. There are a few other wrinkles, too. But the bottom line is, a small proportion of probable child-porn offences in Britain are being investigated by law enforcement, despite tech companies having reported them. If those crimes are not being investigated, the criminals responsible will never be charged, let alone prosecuted, convicted, or imprisoned. And that is a huge problem that no amount of social media regulation will ever fix. What is being done about it? As things stand, the Home Office budget is set to decline by 2.6 per cent by 2028-2029. And that decline comes on top of an already anticipated £1.2bn shortfall in police funding, according to the National Police Chiefs Council. The fiscal picture in Britain seems to look increasingly bleak, and it's hard to believe that Rachel Reeves is going to conjure up more money for policing as opposed to pressing further cuts. It's a mathematical conundrum above most of our pay grades to sort through, but sort through it she must. Abused kids are counting on her doing so. But as societies – whether in Britain, the EU, US or globally – we also need to hold the right actors to account, and place our focus squarely where it should sit. That is law enforcement, and the politicians who determine how much money they will allocate to it, plus which policies our leaders will require police to adhere to in keeping our kids safe. As of right now, that means actually busting child predators, not engaging in misdirection targeting tech firms.
