Thirteen arrested after demonstrators bring mock gallows to Leinster House protest

Cillian Sherlock, PA

Several arrests have been made during a day of protests outside Leinster House that saw demonstrators block entrances and display a mock gallows.

Photographs of high-profile politicians were attached to the gallows as Dáil business returned following the summer recess.

There was a sizeable Garda presence, with metal barricades erected, as politicians, media and Oireachtas staff were barracked arriving and leaving the building.

Some TDs and senators required Garda escorts to leave Leinster House through the shouting crowds of protesters.

The gallows, which featured an effigy of a man hanging from a noose, was adorned with portraits of politicians including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

Images of Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney, Minister for Education Norma Foley and Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman also accompanied the display.

Depictions of opposition TDs including Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin and Solidarity-People Before Profit deputies Paul Murphy and Brid Smith also featured.

On Wednesday morning, around 200 people gathered outside Leinster House on Kildare Street, where the main entrance was fenced off by gardaí, as part of what has become a traditional day of protest for the return of the Dáil session.

Far-right protesters shouted various chants against transgender rights, migration and planned hate speech laws.

Politicians and journalists entering the premises were called “traitors” by the gathered crowd.

Demonstrators held signs featuring slogans such as “Irish lives matter” and “Ballybrack says no”.

Earlier this year, several gardaí attended the Ballybrack area as groups of anti-migrant protesters damaged a building they did not want to be repurposed for refugees.

Outside Leinster House on Wednesday, the protesters regularly chanted: “You’ll never beat the Irish.”

The nearby National Library of Ireland shut as a result of the protest.

Later in the day, protesters moved to the other entrance of the Dáil on Merrion Street.

Their numbers had reduced to below 100 at that point, but they attempted to form human chains at the entrance to prevent people leaving.

At one point, several politicians’ cars were trapped inside the grounds before gardai moved to clear a path for them to exit.