Gardaí feel "abandoned" when it comes to policing anti-migrant protests, according to the General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.
Speaking to journalists outside Garda Headquarters in Dublin, Antoinette Cunningham said it was a matter of "extreme urgency" that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris meets the AGSI to discuss its concerns.
Earlier, Ms Cunningham said the organisation had written to Commissioner Harris about the policing of anti-immigration protests.
This afternoon she said that if the AGSI does not get a response to its request to meet Commissioner Harris by the end of the day, the Association's National Executive would be asked to meet next week.
"Don't forget that we that we are the middle ranking officers who have to deploy members of garda rank out to these situations and we know that they are not adequately trained to deal with them," Ms Cunningham said.
She said that despite a 29% increase in reported hate crimes in 2022, training for dealing with such crimes had not been stepped up.
"I'm not sure when a member of AGSI had training last in the Incitement to Hatred Act, I don't know if some members have ever been trained in it, I don't know if some members are fully aware of what their powers are and these are exactly the kinds of gaps that we need the Garda Commissioner to fill in for us," Ms Cunningham said.
"We haven't been trained for years in relation to crowd management, peaceful crowd management, public order training which is the most basic form of training, how to effectively manage where there are protesters and counter protesters, the role that we play as supervisors in all of that and it just seems that we are abandoned and told to get out there and get one with it."
"Sometimes our members come in for unfair criticism and people say: 'Oh, you know the guards were there and they did nothing'.
"That's because we are awaiting the operational direction on how to manage the issue from senior garda management, and therein lies the issue again," she said.
"It's fine to give Government all the assurances that you need but if you're not going to give the assurance to the frontline member on the ground then there is going to be an issue here," Ms Cunningham added.
Earlier this week Commissioner Harris reassured Minister for Justice Simon Harris that he has the personnel and resources to police anti-immigration protests.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Cunningham said that "the very real questions" for the Garda Commissioner are around what is the decision-making model around protests being applied by garda management in these situations.
She added that no citizen has the right to stop another and ask them for identification.
"Garda management, however, are well aware of the operational issue that's arising here [in Inch] and so the frontline members will sit and wait for their direction as to how this situation is to be managed. And sometimes operationally, management might decide that it may be better to negotiate or de-escalate rather than take a heavy-hand approach."
She said it is "OK for the Garda Commissioner to tell politicians that there's operational integrity to deal with the protest, but the ordinary garda that's left dealing with it on the frontline is grossly undertrained, doesn't know if the public order unit are there, what is their role other than to prevent a breach of the peace.
"And what has happened is we have a whole new population in the last 18 months in Ireland, that's probably not part of any policing strategy and is definitely not part of any police training that our members have undergone."
Ms Cunningham said that the risk of an escalation of violence "has to be seen as real".
"There has been a 29% increase in reported hate crimes in 2022. We saw that from the Police Authority report last month. We know that the thin blue line is getting thinner by the day," she said.
Responding to the comments, the Taoiseach said that he could not speak on behalf of the Garda Commissioner, but it was his understanding that gardaí had adequate responses.
Mr Varadkar said that Minister Harris and Minister O'Gorman met with the Garda Commissioner yesterday, and it was his understanding it was a very good meeting and that Commissioner Harris gave assurance that the resources gardaí have were adequate and that training is in place.
"I understand that the AGSI has written to the Garda Commissioner, it's important that an engagement happens and, we as a Government, are determined to make sure that the gardaí are properly resourced and trained. I know that policing these protests is very difficult, I've seen the kind of abuse that the gardaí get and we stand fully with the gardaí."
Mr Varadkar said that sometimes the public do not understand why gardaí do not intervene in a protest and "I think there’s a way of managing protests".
"It wouldn’t be right for me to speak on behalf of the Garda Commissioner. A concern has been raised from the head of the AGSI which represents garda sergeants and inspectors, it would be important that there is engagement between the Garda Commissioner and his team and the AGSI.
"Certainly the assurance that we have from Drew Harris is that the guards have operational integrity, the resources that they need and that training has been provided," Mr Varadkar said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin echoed Mr Varadkar's comments, saying Commissioner Harris had given assurances that gardaí have the capacity and integrity to deal with the demonstrations.
"Migration is a global phenomenon. There's too much conflict in the world and many people are going through terrible ordeals," Mr Martin said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the protests showed a failure in Government policy to secure large-scale accommodation facilities,
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, she described the blockade in Inch as unacceptable.
She said large spaces of empty accommodation are available, such as Baggot Street hospital, Jury's Hotel in Dublin and the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.
She added that there was a need for supports across the departments to match efforts being made by the Department of Integration.
