The Irish Network of Legal Observers has published its first-ever report, which focuses on a protest which took place in the vicinity of Dublin’s port tunnel on Saturday 4 October 2025.

The new network, co-convened by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, fielded a team of seven legal observers to the demo.

Observers say they monitored gardaí as they restrained and dispersed protesters using force and incapacitant (pepper spray) without justification.

The report finds that actions of members of An Garda Síochána were in violation of garda policies and also Ireland’s international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.