We have become too soft on law and order

ISN’T it dreadful to think that a group of hooligans – and that’s the only way to describe them – believe they are above the law and can dictate to everyone else, including the government, where asylum seekers are to be housed.

Don’t get me wrong, I accept there is a lot wrong with the current situation, where literally hundreds of asylum seekers can suddenly appear in Dublin city centre every week looking for protection.

The government was warned this was going to happen, but as is often the case, little or nothing was done in preparation for this huge increase in numbers until everything reached crisis point.

That said, there is no excuse for the actions of people in Coolock last week, at Ballyogen sometime before that, Citywest, Newcastle, Co Wicklow and practically every other place where asylum seekers are being housed.

After several days of protest and a total of 21 arrests for public order offences on Friday, we woke up to the news that gardaí are now investigating a suspected arson attack on the premises in Coolock earmarked for conversion to cater for up to 500 asylum seekers.

What I couldn’t understand was the leniency shown by the court to some of those charged. Granted, they have had their cases adjourned, but they still got to go home after causing mayhem instead of spending a few nights in prison to cool their heels. If nothing else, it would show what possible sanctions they face if they continue with such deplorable behaviour.

What is it with us? We pussyfoot around things instead of showing a firm hand. It is wrong that a few ne’er-do-wells, who wouldn’t know what work was if it bit them, can go about stirring up hate, waving the Irish flag and calling themselves patriots, while all the time goading the gardaí so they can then post items online showing how the police are ‘attacking’ decent citizens, whose only crime is exercising their right to protest.

I spent a considerable amount of time looking up recent posts of incidents around the country and all I saw was faceless individuals trying to create trouble.

Yes, there is a lot wrong, and yes, we are all beginning to get sick and tired of looking at tent cities along canals or in green areas, but using violence, attacking people as they sleep or, as was reported on Thursday, using a machete on a tourist while shouting ‘f**king immigrant’, is not the answer.

I’m gone beyond the age limit for joining the gardaí, but from what I saw of coverage at these protests and from what was written about the most recent incidents in Coolock, you’d have to ask yourself who in their right mind would want to be a garda today?

All I saw was a bunch of thugs trying their best to create a situation where they portray themselves as victims and then post negative reviews of the actions of those trying to maintain the peace.

There have been too many incidents of late, where people believe they have the right to do and say what they like and even go so far as to issue death threats.

Thankfully, no public figure has died, but public or otherwise, it will only be a matter of time before there are fatalities if this trend where people believe they have a right to resort to violence to get their own way isn’t stamped out once and for all.

One complaint people had about this latest flashpoint was that there hadn’t been enough ‘consultation’ prior to work beginning on converting this former factory into a holding centre.

It became a ‘you said, I said’ situation, with community activists saying there weren’t enough meetings, while the state agency responsible retorted by stating it had outlined plans for the new centre and would have elaborated further as work progressed.

The rights and wrongs of who did what or whether there was enough talk before work actually got underway can be debated, but we were all aware that such centres were going to become a reality.

The state signed up to a European agreement regarding immigration, so it’s now up to the state to house immigrants. What we need to concentrate on is ensuring we don’t become a soft touch for accepting immigrants from all over the world.

Waving the Irish flag while throwing bricks at gardaí or attacking security guards is not the way to go about that.