Gardaí are prepared for “all eventualities” of fuel protests at the National Ploughing Championships, said Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly.
Mr Kelly was speaking on the first day of the three-day event in Screggan, Co Offaly, where 80,000 people are expected to attend the opening day.
Asked if the force expect any disruptions at the Ploughing Championships from fuel protestors, he said: “I’m not going to go into detail around how we plan operations and intelligence. But we’re ready for all eventualities around fuel protests.
“Obviously, what we saw the last time, we’ll certainly not see that again, as we have spent a lot of time looking at how we deal with issues such as fuel blockades.
“If there were any fuel blockades again around critical infrastructure, we would certainly see further more robust policing.
“As is important when any of these things happen, we did a review and we’ve learned lessons from that. We’ve invested in equipment and training. So I would certainly say in public that we’re certainly ready for a situation.”
Mr Kelly was speaking at the An Garda Síochána community engagement stand at the event, which is displaying marked vehicles and equipment.
The Commissioner also said he hopes all gardaí involved in a two-car collision last month on the M9 will be “exonerated”.
On Sunday, 16 August a fatal two-car collision occurred on the M9 in Kildare when one vehicle travelled southbound on the northbound carriageway.
One of Fiosrú’s on-call team of investigators attended the scene and its independent investigation is ongoing.
Fiosrú conducts investigations into circumstances where the conduct of a garda, or gardaí, may have resulted in death or serious harm to a person.
Mr Kelly said: “Fiosrú, obviously, is an independent body and they’ve looked for information from us to be provided to them.
“I support the investigation. It has to run its course and we obviously wait to see what the outcome of that will be. Obviously, as Commissioner, I certainly hope all our members will be exonerated.”
He added: “From my own point of view, the members of An Garda Síochána that were there at the M9 were provided with all the supports that we can. They obviously all remain fully on duty, all those members.
“But again, I want to publicly thank all the guards who worked around that horrendous incident that night, dealing with obviously a really difficult scene and even what happened before that.”
Other members of the force who will be in attendance at the Ploughing this week include the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau, members from the Roads Policing, Garda National Protective Services Bureau, Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and Garda Firearms Policy Unit.