An Garda Síochána are investigating “a number of incidents of criminal damage” in Dublin by activists who say they are deflating the tyres on sports utility vehicles (SUVs) as a protest against climate change.
A number of such incidents in the Dún Laoghaire area in the early hours of Thursday and Churchtown in the early hours of Wednesday are being investigated, according to the Garda Press Office.
Some residents in both areas of south Dublin awoke to find the tyres on the cars deflated and leaflets left on their cars’ windscreens by a group called the Tyre Extinguishers, which explained their action under the heading: “Attention – your gas guzzler kills.”
One man, who woke up in Churchtown on Wednesday to find the tyres on his car and those of his daughter’s deflated, said he didn’t want to give his name because he was afraid. “These are not nice people.”
The man, who spoke to The Irish Times and on Liveline on RTÉ Radio 1, said their cars were parked in the driveway when the incident occurred.
“The real issue that needs to be addressed is the invasion of people’s property. If this continues, it will lead to people not having the right to privacy in their homes.”
He said that, although his car had an SUV-type body, it, in fact, had a 1.2 litre engine and was not a “gas guzzler”. A third, smaller car that was also in the driveway was not touched.
[ SUVs targeted in south Dublin by group protesting against climate changeOpens in new window ]
The leaflets left on the targeted cars say SUVs and 4x4s are a “disaster for our climate” and electric and hybrid SUVs are “still polluting, dangerous and cause congestion”.
Attempts to contact the activists met with no response. On Twitter, an account in the name of the movement noted the deflating of tyres in Dublin and commented: “Great job! Keep it up, spread it, keep going until we make huge vehicles dominating our streets history!”
The same account commented on similar actions recently in Zurich, Oslo, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Berlin and Washington DC in the past ten days.
Oisin Coghlan, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Ireland, said he sympathised with people whose had been targeted and had an issue with targeting individuals arbitrarily rather than the companies and political institutions “that have caused the problem”.
He said Friends of the Earth campaigns on structural issues and “tries to stay away from preaching at individuals”. The fact was, however, that people have been buying more and more SUVs even as the climate crisis worsened “so I can understand why some activists have resorted to an unreasonable response”.
He said it would be up to the courts to decide whether letting the air out of car tyres constituted criminal damage in the circumstances of a protest against SUVs and their effect on climate.
