A Sinn Féin TD has said he did not intend to “drag” gardaí into the debate over the eviction ban by posting an artwork to Twitter.
It comes after a Garda representative and Government politicians criticised Eoin Ó Broin for sharing a piece of art that depicts Garda members and private security at a thatched cottage.
The image appears to compare a forced eviction on Dublin’s Frederick Street in 2018 to evictions carried out during the famine.
Mr Ó Broin shared the image on Twitter and Instagram on Saturday alongside the caption “No words needed”, and credited the artist Mala Spiosrai, also known as 'Spicebag'.
Very positive phone conversation with @antoabs of @AGSI_Ireland today
I stressed it was not my intention to offend, criticise or drag An Garda Síochána into a political controversy
My intention was solely to highlight the issue of homelessness/evictions & criticise Govt policyAdvertisement— Eoin Ó Broin (@EOBroin) April 3, 2023
Antoinette Cunningham, general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), is among those who criticised the Dublin Mid-West TD for sharing the artwork.
“Gardaí do have a role to play in evictions, as we know, but our role is simply to prevent a breach of the peace occurring,” she said on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“So I suppose in relation to the tweet itself, it does misrepresent the role of gardai and sort of puts us out there and sets society against gardaí when we are not the ones that have caused the issue in relation to this Government policy.”
Minister for Justice Simon Harris said the post shows what the Sinn Féin party “really think of the gardaí”.
“It’s offensive, inappropriate and disrespectful to the men and women of An Garda Síochána,” he said.
On Monday afternoon, Mr Ó Broin said he had a “very positive phone conversation” with Ms Cunningham on Monday.
He said on Twitter: “I stressed it was not my intention to offend, criticise or drag An Garda Síochána into a political controversy.
“My intention was solely to highlight the issue of homelessness/evictions & criticise Govt policy.”
People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy accused the Government of attempting to divert attention away from the lifting of the eviction ban, which lapsed on Saturday.
He said: “The pearl clutching by Fine Gael TDs is designed to distract from their responsibility for lifting the eviction ban, and to seek to shut down legitimate criticism of the gardaí.
“The fact here is that the Government has allowed for a situation where, over the next number of months, we could see a vast increase in the levels of notices to quit and evictions.
“The Government is responsible for this situation due to the absolute failure of their housing policies – their failure to deliver adequate social and affordable housing.”
