The Green Party has accused the Spanish Government of attacking dissent with violence in today's referendum in Catalonia, and has called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to raise Irish concerns with his Spanish counterpart Alfonso Dastis.Speaking today Cllr. Ciarán Cuffe, leader of the Green Party on Dublin City Council, a city twinned with Barcelona in Catalonia stated:“The scenes we are witnessing today are unacceptable in a democracy. Imagine if Greater Dublin held a referendum to secede from the Irish State and An Garda Siochána responded with the scenes of violence that we saw on our screens today?“Regardless of the outcome of today's plebiscite the Spanish Government must pull back from using the violent tactics that we saw. Such scenes were unacceptable in Spain under Franco, and are more appalling today.“It is disturbing to hear that rubber bullets were used by Spanish police against the public in a bid to prevent voting from taking place, and to hear reports that hundreds of civilians were injured.“Regardless of the merits or otherwise of the referendum, police violence is unacceptable, not least in a member state of the European Union.”ENDSIssued 01Oct17, page last updated 01Oct17