Watching the harrowing footage of what would become Yves Sakila’s final moments of consciousness, it is hard not to be reminded of the agonising death of George Floyd. Sakila was declared dead in a Dublin hospital on 15 May, a short time after being pinned to the ground by security guards outside Arnotts, a city centre department store.

Congolese-born Sakila had allegedly been suspected of shoplifting in the store and fled. If we have any knowledge of what subsequently happened in the busy pedestrianised street outside, it is because video footage was captured by passersby. In these deeply distressing images, the 35-year-old is being restrained by a group of security guards for nearly five minutes. He tries to protest but his shouts are muffled in the concrete when one of the men appears to put his knee on the back of Sakila’s neck. By the end of the video, Sakila has stopped moving.

The cause of death has not yet been established – an initial post-mortem examination reportedly inconclusive. Nor is it likely that the police investigation into claims of excessive force will establish exactly what was going through the minds of those involved. Yet, this is what I would like to understand. What would compel someone who can see that a person is being forcibly restrained by several men, to kneel on the individual’s neck? Would it have been different if the man suspected of stealing had been white?

Six years ago we gathered and protested in the streets under Black Lives Matter banners. We were finally addressing the racism in Ireland that was overlooked for so long. Was all that in vain? We had to ask similar questions after the........

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