Irish Examiner view: Political grandstanding about the Dublin riots will serve no purpose
It is natural, following last Thursday’s violence and looting, that questions will be asked of Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about the preparedness of the State’s guardians for the horrifying scenes that unfolded in the capital. Picture: David Young/PA Wire
There are times, understandably, when political grandstanding is a necessarily useful tool in public life, but when the stability of the State is in question, that sort of showboating is unnecessarily divisive.
It is natural, following last Thursday’s violence and looting in Dublin, that questions will be asked of Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about the preparedness of the State’s guardians for the horrifying scenes that unfolded in the capital.
Sinn Féin has expressed its lack of confidence in the minister and commissioner and led calls for them to be sacked — as have the Social Democrats — at a time when the minister is promising a swift legal framework allowing gardaí to use facial-recognition technology and bodycams.
It is doubtful that investigations into the fiery and violent aftermath of the terrible stabbings on Parnell St will reveal anything other than thuggish opportunism piggybacking on a small but violent and intent right-wing cabal trying to strike fear into the hearts of Irish people. That these people managed to turn Dublin’s city centre into a calamitous fireball is, of course, a huge concern, but it has to be contextualised.
Sober reflection on what happened can and will be dealt with by our justice system, but not at a moment’s notice.
The robustness of our criminal justice system will prove resolute in this case, as it has done on so many occasions in the past, and it can confidently be expected that the ringleaders and their goons who perpetrated the millions of pounds worth of damage in O’Connell St and surrounds will be brought before the courts and dealt with appropriately.
Sacking Ms McEntee and Mr Harris would be nothing other than a knee-jerk and would do little other than make scapegoats of them. Stamping out the violence of hate and mopping up with it the thugs who sought to personally profit from the chaos is a far more urgent requirement for the authorities. Political grandstanding will help no one.
To even casual observers, the deeply cynical weaponisation of immigrants on Europe’s eastern borders — especially Russia’s activities in the past week at its boundary with Finland — is further evidence, if it was needed, that foreign powers are doing all they can to destabilise European democracies wherever and however they can.
Since the beginning of this month, more than 800 migrants and refugees have, according to the Finnish border guard, entered the country from Russia, forcing Finland to close all but one border crossing between the two countries and accept support from the European border guard agency, Frontex.
Fellow Baltic nations Estonia and Latvia have also reported increases in numbers of those seeking refuge having arrived via Russia. They have described this as “fully state-orchestrated” and “a hybrid attack operation” by Russia.
Latvia’s defence minister, Andris Spruds, even described Vladimir Putin, as the “puppet master” of the operation.
Those turning up — on bicycles, believe it or not — at Finnish, Estonian and Latvian border posts are originally from Syria, Yemen, and Somalia. Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for them to have gotten so far north within Russia without state assistance.
Indeed, all Russian border crossings with western countries are special zones controlled by the country’s security agency, the FSB, and permission is required for anyone wishing to enter — an impossibility for any external migrant.
While the Russians are maintaining it is a mystery as to how all these people have gotten so far north in the middle of winter, this is deeply implausible and the Finns, Latvians, and Estonians are right to be suspicious.
Equally worrying is no one is sure what will happen to these migrants. Will Russia simply abandon them to find their own way into Europe? Or will it try and send them elsewhere?
Whatever the answer, an unpleasant future awaits these people as Russia weaponises them in one form or another.
The forthcoming Iowa caucuses next January will weed out Republican and Democratic candidates for the 2024 US presidential election, but it is the battle for the Republican nomination that has thus far engaged most observers.
Former president and the man currently facing 91 charges across four criminal cases, Donald Trump, leads all polls by a considerable margin from fellow contenders, Florida governor Ron DeSantis and former US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, both of whom have appeared to struggle in his wake.
In recent days, however, it has emerged that a significant number of US business heavyweights have been digging deep into their pockets to fund Ms Haley’s campaign as she appears to them to be best placed to challenge Mr Trump.
Chief executives, hedge fund investors, and corporate deal-makers have begun gravitating towards Ms Haley and those who have already put money up to support her are doubling down on their support for the former governor of South Carolina because of her consistent, strong polling and strong debate performances.
At a time when financial support is vital to any candidate’s electoral chances, the money men are adding positivity and a steady cash flow to her campaign at a critical juncture and boosting not only her chances of survival but of emerging as a genuine contender.
Ms Haley is seen as a welcome alternative to Mr Trump, whose aura of invincibility has slipped amid legal woes, but her path to becoming the Republican presidential nominee will be long and fraught.
That her financial backers see a path to victory is hugely positive, but she has a long way to go yet.
