Arrests of masked men after gathering at Simon Harris’s home is warning from gardaí to the far right

The arrest of three men on Thursday over the alleged harassment of Taoiseach Simon Harris at his Wicklow home in recent weeks marks a “new departure” for gardaí, sources acknowledge.

‘We do not consider them protests, we consider them gatherings’

It is intended to “send a message” to far-right protesters — that targeting politicians at their family home is no longer “fair game” and could amount to the criminal offence of harassment.

This is a change in policy by the senior garda management team, who have “growing concerns” about an increase in protesters gathering outside the homes of politicians.

“We do not consider them protests, we consider them gatherings. These individuals are there to harass and intimate politicians, their families and their neighbours in their private homes. It is not just Simon Harris’s home that has been targeted.

“The message now is if you gather outside a politician’s private home, you could face arrest for alleged harassment. It’ll be a matter for the DPP whether it does amount to harassment — and this will be something of a test case,” said the source.

The three men arrested over the alleged harassment of the Taoiseach are all Dubliners aligned to two anti-immigration protest groups. Two are from Clondalkin and the other is from Leopardstown.

‘They wouldn’t have been out of place at an IRA parade’

The trio, two in their 40s and one in his 30s, gathered outside the Taoiseach’s home either last Friday or on May 2. They were masked and acted in a “intimidatory manner”, said a separate source.

“They looked like a paramilitary group, with their faces masked and carrying Tricolours. They wouldn’t have been out of place at an IRA parade.

“There are paramilitary connotations with masked protestors,” added the source. “But we were still able to identify them, which took some work.”

​More arrests are expected in the probe, which is being led by gardaí based in Wicklow, assisted by the Special Detective Unit, which investigates security threats to the State.

A number of electronic devices have been seized as part of the operation, including laptops and mobile phones.

These will be examined by gardaí to establish what role those arrested had in organising the gathering at the Taoiseach’s home and other anti-migrant demonstrations.

Gardaí said the men were arrested under the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act as part of ongoing investigations into the alleged harassment of an elected official.

Section 10 of the act makes it an offence to harass someone by “intentionally or recklessly seriously interfere with the other’s peace and privacy or cause alarm, distress or harm to the other”.

The offence is punishable at District Court level by a €1,500 fine or up to 12 months in jail — but more serious offences prosecuted in the Circuit Court can result in sentences of up to seven years in prison.

The homes of Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman and People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy have also been targeted.

Earlier this year, the home in Co Meath where Justice Minister Helen McEntee lives with her husband and young child had to be evacuated following a bomb scare, which turned out to be a hoax.