The Royal Visit and the Security Spectacle

The impending visit by Queen Elizabeth, like the Royal Wedding before it, is clearly designed, as a show of force by ruling elites, a reaffirmation of the power and authority of the state, and a demonstration of the state's ability to enforce its rule in the face of political dissidents and recalcitrants.

In Britain, the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was accompanied by a massive security operation, with the aim of suppressing any potential dissent against the institution of the monarchy, against class privilege or against the austerity measures being imposed upon the British working class. A wave of pre-emptive arrests (which activists dubbed 'precrime' arrests in reference to Philip K. Dick's dystopian short story 'Minority Report') targeted hundreds of activists, including anarchists, republicans and anti-cuts activists, with the flimsy justification that some of them might have been involved in violence or property destruction during the TUC march, with police being granted sweeping stop and search powers on the day of the wedding itself.



In Ireland, a similar crackdown on dissent has already begun. The Gardaí and Dublin City Council have begun tearing down posters advertising protests, and removing political stickers from lampposts (including, oddly, tearing down posters for the un-related Anarchist Bookfair, which had been erected with council approval) in a clear example of political censorship. 10,000 Gardaí are to be drafted in to guard the Queen, with large areas of Dublin, Cashel, Kildare and Cork being closed off at various times to facilitate the monarch, including, oddly, Dublin Zoo (perhaps the Real IRA are planning to release penguins to confuse the Queen, or something). As in Britain, Gardaí will be stopping and searching potential protestors. As the Irish Times reported: "Officers on foot will stop and search people and those questioned will be asked to indicate their destination. Checkpoints will also be set up and motorists will be questioned. Road users will also be asked to explain the purpose of their journey." Tens of thousands of people have already had to suffer intrusive Garda calls at their homes.

Of course, to complain about the erosion of civil liberties would be to miss the point. Civil liberties are nothing more than privileges given to us by the state in return for our obedience, which can and will be taken away the moment they are used to threaten the interests of the powerful.

When viewed through the prism of austerity politics, the purpose of this security spectacle is clear. The ability of the state to close off half of Dublin, to hassle people on the streets and in their homes, and to muster 10,000 cops to batter protestors off the streets if needs be, in order to parade an unelected parasite and symbol of imperialism around, like the unprovoked violent response to the student protest last November, is a clear message to the people of Ireland: this is what's in store for those who attempt to stand up to a government intent on robbing the working class to pay off the debts of the wealthy.

Join the march on Dublin Castle on the 18th May, starting at St Catherine’s Church on Thomas Street at 17:30