Man And Van In Custody After A Series Of Ramming Incidents Were Reported
Man and van in custody after ramming incidents occurring on Friday, early morning, causing damage to several entrances of government buildings. Multiple entrances to government buildings and Leinster House (the Parliament House of Ireland) in central Dublin are damaged. Gardai inspected that all the incidents were related as the three sets of gates were attacked in Merrion Street.
A man, thought to be in his 40s, is detained for alleged ramming along with his van. It was about 2:30 in the morning when he was driving with alcohol intoxication. After screening the photographs where the incident took place, he was re-arrested on suspicion of criminal wreckage.
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A suspicious message was left by the suspect on social media saying, he will “kill him” or “anyone in my way”. The target is still unknown.
Social media is filled with photos of a white van parked in the same areas and then it is removed by Gardai on suspicion basis. The van was extensively damaged from the front, supposedly used to ram the gates numerous times.
The gates and buildings that became the victims of van ramming are the entrance of the Department of the Taoiseach on Merrion Street, the entrance on the side of the Attorney General’s office and the entrance to Leinster House with Merrion Lawn. Senators’ and TDs’ parking lot was smashed in the early hours of Friday.
After deep investigations of the same case, Gardai are dubious that other overnight ramming incidents are also related to the same man and van in custody. Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park and Dublin’s Custom House incidents appear to have an uncanny connection.
Gardai’s doubts about man and van in custody
Although Gardai are carrying out the investigation, they are still unsure whether the same man could have been present at two locations at a much similar time. Gardai described another incident as “criminal damage” at the Phoenix Gate Lodge. It is not yet confirmed whether it is related to the rest of the incidents in the early morning hours in the city.
Different gates had to undergo different intensities of damage from ramming. For instance, visible damage was observed on the gates to the Department of Taoiseach as well as to the gates of Leinster Lawn. On the contrary, one of the two gates of the Attorney General’s office was utterly knocked out of its hinged place.
The gate was supposed to cover the area beside the laneway in the lawn and behind the Attorney General’s office along with back passing through the Departments of Finance and Agriculture.
The area is sealed off for technical examination throughout the rest of Friday. The man did not feel any hesitation in using his van to ram into the gates despite Garda’s posts outside those buildings.
The infrastructure of some of these buildings is already protected by an anti-ramming base. The barriers can be raised or lowered to make vehicle access out of the question.
It still raises questions on the security of these buildings and the surrounding areas, Garda suspected. Garda Headquarters answered the queries by saying, “Gardai were alerted to a single-vehicle road traffic collision on Merrion Street Upper, Dublin 2 at approximately 2:30 am on Friday”.
It was not the first incident to take place at Government buildings. It happened before with numerous break-ins. It makes the vehicular entry points of the country’s highly protected buildings sceptical.
The man has been in custody, under Section 4 of the Criminal Act 1984, since Friday morning. The van is also taken to the police station for technical examination. Gardai removed it from the scene in the early morning.
