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Gardaí allegedly removed former Debenhams workers from a store in Dublin last night, as KPMG attempted to take stock from the premises.
The demonstration was part of an ongoing dispute over redundancy packages.
Former employees were only granted statutory entitlements, when 11 closed branches shut their doors over a year ago.
Last night,thirty protesters barricaded themselves into a loading bay at the Henry Street branch.
A live stream of the event shows a small number of local residents and supporters also at the scene.
Protesters Claim Excessive Force Was Used By Gardaí
One of the protesters and Shop Steward Jane Crowe says over 50 Gardaí attended the incident
Protesters lock themselves inside Debenhams loading bay Richard Boyd Barrett says gardaí at Dublin demonstration ‘extremely heavy handed’
about 2 hours ago Jade Wilson
By midnight, several public order unit vans and gardaí had arrived at the back of the former Henry Street store. Photograph: Jade Wilson
Gardaí removed a number of protestors from the former Debenhams store on Henry Street on Thursday night after they had locked themselves inside the loading bay to prevent the removal of stock.
A group of protesters assembled at the former store on Thursday evening in response to a social media callout stating that there was Garda presence in the vicinity and the removal of stock was “imminent”.
Video footage from the event shows multiple Gardaà approaching an estimated 30 or so protestors to remove them from the loading bay.
Jane Crowe, one former Debenhams worker who was in attendance on Thursday night, told Virgin Media News that she was forcibly carried off the premises, resulting in her undergarments being broken. We were forcibly lifted up, I was carried out, and while they were carrying me out, my jacket came off over my head, my jumper came off over my head, I was left with no clothes from the waist up, she said.
#WATCH Gardaà have been criticised for breaking up a #Debenhams strike on Henry Street last night
Industry and Employment Correspondent
Supporters of former Debenhams employees have urged Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to consider his position after Gardaí were deployed to move protesters to allow the liquidator KPMG to extract stock from the Henry Street store in Dublin.
Footage streamed early this morning showed protestors, who attempted to block access to the stores, being physically removed by up to 50 Gardaí.
The Garda Press Office confirmed Gardaí had attended a premises as required for the execution of a High Court order which had previously been secured by KPMG to enable the liquidation to proceed. The Liquidators are simply seeking to complete the process which is entirely lawful based on the Court order which the Liquidators received from the High Court a number of weeks ago, KPMG said in a statement this evening.
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