Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to an incident in the Cherry Orchard area in Dublin on Monday evening in which a Garda car was rammed by another vehicle.
A Garda spokesman said members were responding to reports of dangerous driving in the Ballyfermot area shortly after 7.30pm.
Gardaí observed two vehicles driving erratically and both failed to stop when requested to do so, said the spokesman. One vehicle then rammed an official Garda car. No injuries were reported during the incident and investigations are ongoing.
[ Cherry Orchard ramming: Any assault on gardaí ‘unacceptable’, Minister saysOpens in new window ]
Videos posted on social media on Monday evening showed onlookers cheering as a car drove into a Garda car before reversing and driving again into the vehicle.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan described the scenes as “terrifying” in a post on Twitter. ”I hope it serves as a wake up call. This community has been ignored for too long. Urgently needs resources & support from Government & senior [gardaí]”.
Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin expressed shock at what he called “scenes of utter lawlessness” in the videos.
The Dún Laoghaire TD, who is the party’s Dublin spokesperson, said: “This is evidence of the shocking incidents Gardaí are forced to deal with as a small proportion of people terrorise a whole community.
“We have to come down much stronger on what is pure lawlessness happening across the capital, and back the Gardaí with the resources and legislation to deal with those who behave with no regard for law or life.”
Gardaí are appealing to any member of the public who may have witnessed the incident to come forward. They are also asking for anyone who was travelling in the Cherry Orchard area at the time to make any dash cam or other footage available to investigating gardaí.
Anyone with any information in relation to the incident should contact Ballyfermot Garda station on 01 666 7200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
