'No staff in any workplace should feel threatened': Cork library security may need to be enhanced, says Varadkar

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, has said security arrangements in Cork city libraries may need to be examined following an ongoing campaign of harassment and abuse of staff.

Mr Varadkar was speaking at Collins Barracks on Sunday after the main ceremony of this year’s National Day of Commemoration.

The Taoiseach was asked by The Echo about an ongoing series of incidents involving protesters objecting to the availability of what they term “pornographic” books related to LGBT matters.

During those incidents, library staff have been filmed and streamed against their wishes and, according to public sector union Fórsa, have been called “groomers” and “paedophiles”.

Mr Varadkar said he wanted to express his support and solidarity for library staff coming under pressure from activists trying to remove books from libraries.

“I think that’s a very dangerous thing to see in any country that people want to take away books or burn books or remove knowledge,” he said.

“That’s not the kind of thing we want to see in our republic and also no staff in any work place should feel threatened or should be subjected to abuse or violence.”

Mr Varadkar said he intended to follow up with ministerial colleagues in the departments of justice, local government, and rural community development, in the coming days, to see what “we need to do to enhance security for staff in libraries, which are public places, they shouldn’t be places of danger, they should be places of sanctuary and places of learning”.

He added that he was aware that Fórsa representatives and library staff had called for increased security in libraries themselves and had asked what actions could be taken against those who engage in acts of violence or acts of abuse, which he said could not be tolerated in any workplace.

Asked if An Garda Síochána should take a more robust approach to policing such activity, Mr Varadkar said the gardaí have to judge situations as they arise and are, he said, the best people to judge a situation.

“Sometimes activists — whether they’re from the far right or the far left — they actually seek to provoke and they actually want the gardaí to arrest them, so that they can then accuse the gardaí of being heavy-handed,” he said.

“You know, these people know what they’re doing, we’ve seen a number of occasions with far-right and far-left protesters and I think the guards are best placed to judge an individual circumstances how best to police.”