A Siege Mentality

Gardaí wearing black balaclavas to facilitate the repossession of a vacant property have added new fire to the housing debate. Jack Horgan-Jones and Hugh O’Connell report

Members of the Garda Public Order Unit appeared with masked men who removed a number of activists from a property on North Frederick Street in Dublin last week Pic: Jack Power

Images of black-hooded men repossessing a vacant Dublin property, and the protests which followed, have caused an ill-tempered debate over housing to further sour. But what is at stake and who are the main players in this new drama?

It was just after 7pm last Tuesday when Aindriú de Buitléir, who had only just joined the occupation of 34 North Frederick Street, heard the sound of angle grinders and sledgehammers outside the front ...