Sinn Fein is to table a no-confidence motion in Justice Minister Helen McEntee next Tuesday following riots in Dublin last Thursday.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said there needed to be accountability for the “catastrophic failure” to keep people safe.
Tens of millions of euro worth of damage was done to public infrastructure after disorder in the Irish capital that saw buses, trams and Garda cars on O’Connell Street set on fire and shops on Henry Street looted.
Ms McDonald said a lack of Garda members and government inaction had resulted in people feeling less safe in the city, as well as in other parts of the country.
“Frankly, people are sick of all of this. They’re sick of feeling unsafe. They’re sick of the assumption that that feeling of being unsafe is OK, because it’s in the north inner city. That’s not good enough.”
She said that those who vote confidence in Ms McEntee would have very serious questions to answer outside the Dail chamber.
“I fail to see how anybody could credibly or fairly go to their community, to their constituency, and say that they have confidence in the Minister for Justice given what transpired on Thursday.”
She said she still had no confidence in Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, but added that the Dail had a direct role in holding the minister to account.
“I think the fact that the minister herself has not questioned the Garda Commissioner demonstrates the lack of leadership, the collapse of leadership, and the lack of direction more generally. So our motion is focused on the minister.”
Asked if tabling the motion would play into the hands of those who organised demonstrations that preceded riots in Dublin, Ms McDonald said it was “not playing into anyone’s hands”.
When Sinn Fein TD Pa Daly was asked if they had any chance of winning the vote, he answered in Irish that that was not the point, and that the party wanted to stand up for communities in the inner city.
