Shoes and eggs were thrown at Tony Blair as the former prime minister faced a barrage of abuse when he arrived at the first book signing for his autobiography.
Tensions were high as streets were blocked off, the city’s tram service was suspended and shops were shut in advance of the book signing at the Eason store in the centre of Dublin. Security was tight on the city’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, as up to 300 campaigners carrying flags and banners chanted “arrest the butcher Blair” and “hey hey Tony, hey, how many kids have you killed today?” Undercover detectives mingled with the crowds taking names from known activists.
As Blair emerged from his car at about 10:30am, anti-war demonstrators heckled and jeered him before throwing the missiles, which did not hit Blair. Activists later clashed with police officers as they tried to push down a security barrier outside the shop.
One woman, Kate O’Sullivan, attempted to make a citizen’s arrest on Blair over his alleged war crimes after getting through tight security to confront the former prime minister.
O’Sullivan, 24, a member of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Movement, was removed from the store by security staff and given a caution by Gardai.
Richard Boyd-Barrett, of the Anti-War Movement, said: “It really is shameful that somebody can be responsible for the death and destruction that he was responsible for in Iraq and Afghanistan and walk away without any accounting for that and become a very wealthy man off the back of it.” Hundreds of other people queued quietly in the rain by a side door to meet Blair, who is donating the profits from his memoirs, A Journey, to the Royal British Legion.
One of his supporters, Emily Lynch, 22, praised the politician for playing a huge part in Irish history, through his role in creating the Good Friday Agreement. She said: “He is the only prime minister Irish people can relate to and feel he’s on our side.”
Blair spent around two hours at the shop before leaving, again to boos from protesters. As his car sped away with a Gardai escort, officers stood across the glass front of the shop to stop demonstrators getting in to the building. University lecturer Kieran Allen, a member of the Socialist Workers’ Party, opposed Blair’s visit to Dublin, saying the former prime minster was a “war criminal” and had left a “legacy of blood” from his time in office.
A small number of arrests were made.
A small number of arrests were made.
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