Disputes between Debenhams workers and KPMG have been ongoing for over a year.
A woman has spoken out after being “left with no clothes from the waist up” due to what she described as Gardaí “heavy-handedness” at a protest organised by former Debenhams employees on Thursday night.
Protesters gathered on Henry Street to lock themselves in a loading bay following a tip-off that stock was set to be removed from the facility by the accounting firm.
Video footage from the event shows multiple Gardaí 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 Gardaí have been criticised for breaking up a #Debenhams strike on Henry Street last night
Former staff at the department store had tried to prevent trucks from removing stock overnight @PaulQuinnNews has the details ⤵️#VMNews pic.twitter.com/sqWcuFppG2
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) April 23, 2021
“My undergarments were broken as well, it was demoralising, to be left half-naked in front of 50 or 60 Gardaí, as well as the public, and fellow colleagues and supporters.
“There was absolutely no need for the heavy-handedness that was done last night.”
A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána confirmed that Gardaí attended a premises in Dublin City Centre, as required in the execution of a High Court Order, on the evening of 22 April.
When pressed for further information on the incident, Gardaí made no further comment.
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