Around 60 gardaí remained on duty in and around Port of Galway entry points until Wednesday night this week, after a makeshift blockade was cleared on Sunday.
Numbers were gradually drawn down from around 200 personnel over the past few days, after Lough Atalia was re-opened to regular traffic on Tuesday.
Garda management is yet to cancel its "exceptional event" notification which suspends normal Garda working time agreements, and operations continue, according to a spokesman.
An online smear campaign, seemingly generated in Britain, has targeted members of an Garda Síochána in Galway, while military authorities requested a Garda presence to deter online agitators from filming vehicle movements in and out of Renmore Barracks.
Fake images shared on social media show uniformed gardaí being refused food and drinks in real and manipulated business settings in the city centre.
These images used names of a well-known city centre pub, and a fast-food restaurant. Officers in the images are wearing uniforms phased out in 2022, while purported staff members in some images have only four fingers – a tell-tale of AI manipulated photos.
"Thanks to your efforts we have broken the illegal blockades which were interfering with access to our critical national infrastructure," Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly told members on Monday. "This has meant that our emergency services, hospital and fuel supply network were able to continue to operate."
Separately to the main policing operation to ensure free movement to and from the fuel storage depots in the Galway Harbour Enterprise Park last weekend, Garda foot patrols and canine units were deployed to Renmore at the request of military authorities.
Gardaí closed access to Deadman’s Beach across Department of Defence property, to prevent protestors gaining access to fuel storage areas at the rear of Galway Port. They also dispersed individuals filming from Renmore Road and Mellows Park, recording military vehicles entering, leaving and moving within Dún Ui Mhaoiliosa.
One Defence Forces ‘Bison’ heavy duty recovery vehicle, temporarily relocated to Galway from the Curragh last week, was deployed by the army to assist the policing operation, while accommodation for gardaí from outside Galway was made available in Renmore Barracks.
On Saturday afternoon, before a vehicle blockade was withdrawn, and a roadblock of wood and steel was later erected to close New Docks bridge on Saturday evening, protestors facilitated a number of articulated, 40 foot tanker trucks to leave the fuel depot to supply emergency services as part of a de-escalation agreement with gardaí on scene.
A stockade of pallets, steel fence panels and spruce logs was later constructed by some individuals on the road bridge which spans the narrow inlet into Lough Atalia. This choke point links the New Docks with the Galway Harbour Enterprise Park.
Up until this barrier was erected, most buses and port workers’ cars were being allowed over the bridge, but fuel tankers were blocked by up to 20 tractors and other machinery.
Protesters were given a dispersal order by a Garda superintendent on Sunday, after blockading access to the fuel depot for five days, and completely closing it for one day.
Before Sunday's dispersal order was executed, up to 100 gardaí from across the western division – where Easter holiday leave was cancelled – marched in formation to the docks, early morning, in a show of force. Images of gardaí later dismantling the barricade, assisted by a military truck, were broadcast worldwide.
Gardaí on scene reported "probably ninety-seven per cent" of peaceful protesters left when ordered to do so good naturedly, after a cold and showery Saturday night spent on the bridge. Security sources said the most militant individuals were unknown to city-based gardaí, and that fewer than ten arrests were made there all week. They said some far-right agitators attempted to join the blockade, but were "dissuaded" by recognisable, anti-racism protesters from Galway city.
A Garda spokesman said the force would not be commenting for operational reasons, and that arrest figures for a mixture of offences were yet to be collated. Speaking to the Advertiser, port workers observed most heavy machinery used to block access appeared to originate from east and south County Galway, and south Roscommon.
Clean-up
Port of Galway staff had finished clearing debris and rubbish left by protesters by late Monday morning this week, as kerosene delivery tankers and other cargo vehicles began entering and leaving the facility after a weekend of disruption of distribution of fuel across the country, and especially in the West.
A tanker riding at anchor in Galway Bay was able to dock in Galway late on Sunday, and begin unloading its six million litres of fuel.
Around 100 protesters later marched around Eyre Square on Sunday, before dissipating in small groups throughout the city centre.
On Monday this week, at least 15 gardaí from the Public Order Unit in stab vests and body armour, and around 40 uniformed members, remained on static duty around the docks as rumours circulated online that protesters would return on Monday afternoon. Instead, a small number of people were moved on by gardaí on Monday in scuffles recorded by social media agitators.
These Garda numbers were gradually drawn down over the week, although a high visibility presence is understood to be maintained for now.
At least three, almost brand-new, tractors had been left behind by fuel protesters, while it was unclear whether lorry cabs parked up around the docks belonged to protesters, or were abandoned by drivers who could not exit the illegally blockaded harbour during the six-day disruption.
The Harbour Master, Captain Brian Sheridan, condemned the disturbances.
"This past week has been one of the most challenging in the port's recent history," he said. "I want to pay sincere tribute to our port staff, who conducted themselves with professionalism, resilience and calm under very stressful and uncertain circumstances... safety remained the top priority throughout."
Sheridan thanked Gardaí, and said it was too early to calculate economic damage to the Port Company, but that seafood businesses in the harbour area had been adversely affected by the fuel protests, and that indirect losses due to supply chain interruptions would have an induced multiplier affect on businesses costs across the region.
"The planning approval for the port extension, which came during this blockade, underlines a critical point: infrastructure that is over 180 years old is not fit for the demands of the modern era. It reinforces the importance of securing and investing in vital state assets."
