GARDAÍ yesterday expressed satisfaction with security and policing arrangements for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Cork with the visit passing off peacefully without any major incident.
Chief Supt Michael Finn paid tribute to the people of Cork for the welcome they accorded the Queen while he also praised people including the business community for their co-operation in the face of major traffic restrictions.
About 1,000 uniformed officers drawn from all three Cork divisions, Limerick, Kerry, Laois- Offaly, Wicklow and Westmeath were joined by about 230 detectives backed up by armed members of the Emergency Response Unit and the Regional Support Unit.
Some 350 members of the Army from Collins Barracks were also deployed at Cork Airport for Queen Elizabeth’s arrival and departure as were members of the Army Rangers while Air Corps armed PC9 policed the airspace with support from Army ground-based radar systems.
Meanwhile the Naval Service also provided support for the security operation on Leeside with sailors from the LE Niamh moored at Kennedy Quay patrolling the north and south channels of the Lee in rigid inflatable boats.
Gardaí had been concerned Cork might prove a focal point for dissident republicans seeking to disrupt the visit of the Queen, particularly if they failed to cause any significant disruption in Dublin and they feared large numbers of protesters would travel to Cork.
About 200 or so protesters attended a rally to celebrate Cork’s republican past organised by Sinn Féin on Sullivan’s Quay which was addressed by Cork North Central TD Jonathan O’Brien and Margaret Urwin of the Justice for the Forgotten Group.
Chief Supt Finn paid tribute to Sinn Féin for the manner in which it held the protest, saying it had liaised and co-operated with gardaí in planning the event and it had been conducted with dignity and in a peaceful manner.
Meanwhile about 70 protesters representing Republican Sinn Féin, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and republican socialist group Éirigí also mounted a protest on Sullivan’s Quay which is separated from the Grand Parade by the south channel of the Lee.
About 60 of these protesters made attempts to block the route being taken by the Queen along Washington Street to the Tyndall National Institute when they tried to rush Garda cordons at South Main Street, Clarke’s Bridge and St Finbarr’s Bridge.
Gardaí had three public order units comprising almost 60 officers equipped with riot gear on standby and they held their ground at both South Main Street and Clarke’s Bridge without any serious confrontation.
However when a group of protesters ran up Wandesford Quay to try to cross at St Finbarr’s Bridge, just three gardaí were on duty but they held the line until they were joined by six mounted gardaí and the protesters retired without any major incident.
In a separate incident, a man armed with a plastic gun was arrested on Sheares Street under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and brought to the Bridewell Garda station for questioning.
It is understood the man was not aligned with any republican group.
