Gardaí expected to probe incidents during Taoiseach's visit to Mayo

An Taoiseach Simon Harris has described disruption to a canvassing event in Mayo last Sunday as "thuggery".

Mr Harris was in Mayo to officially open the Colm Horkan Memorial Pitch and Community Walkway at Charlestown Sarsfields GAA club and also engaged in pre-election canvassing in Swinford, Castlebar and Westport.

During a canvass along Hopkins Road in Castlebar, Mr Harris, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and MEP Maria Walsh were followed by three members of the family of teacher Enoch Burke, who is currently in prison for contempt of court.

The members of the Burke family shouted at the group as they visited businesses and met locals. A small separate group also began to follow the Taoiseach and Minister McEntee through Castlebar. A planned media interview with the Taoiseach on Market Square was cancelled and moved to the grounds of Islandeady GAA club.

Similar scenes occurred in Westport later in the day when the Taoiseach and MEP Maria Walsh were canvassing at a Pride event.

Speaking in Islandeady, the Taoiseach said that the three members of the Burke family “clearly don’t understand” how the Irish Constitution works.

“We live in a country where the courts and the Government are separate and people need to abide by the rules of our court.

“That’s a fundamental tenet of democracy, and it would be entirely inappropriate for me as Taoiseach to comment on a decision made in the court. Anybody who expects the Taoiseach to do that clearly doesn’t understand how the Constitution of Ireland works.” 

He said protest has an important role in any democracy but there is a line between protest and attempts to significantly disrupt.

Referring to the second, smaller group, he said it had nothing to do with concerns over immigration.

“This came from people engaged in thinly veiled thuggery, that’s absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with migration policy. We should never conflate the two.” 

A spokesperson for the Taoiseach said a full investigation should be carried out after a Garda was hit and the Taoiseach was "pushed and jostled" while in Westport.

“What happened in Mayo today was not protest. It was thuggery. The Taoiseach would like to thank An Garda Síochána for their professionalism.

“A member of An Garda Síochána was hit during the scenes and the Taoiseach was pushed and jostled by a small number of people. 

“Although it was a very small number of people, today’s behaviour cannot be accepted and should never be normalised and a full Garda investigation should be carried out.”