Violence outside Citywest migrant hotel orchestrated online, Irish police say

Irish police said that the violence that broke out during a protest in front of a hotel hosting asylum seekers in Dublin was planned over the internet.

Six people have been arrested and five charged after gardai were attacked with bricks, fireworks and glass bottles at the Citywest Hotel in Saggart on Tuesday evening.

The protest came after an alleged sexual assault on a young girl in the area in the early hours of Monday morning.

Scene commander Garda Ch Supt Michael McNulty said the violence was orchestrated by “different groups inciting hatred and violence on social media”.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that around 2,000 people attended the protest, which gardaí said included peaceful protesters.

But they said there were also horse-drawn sulks (chariots), beaters and “violent thugs who were only there to incite violence and promote fear”.

Gardaí said protesters tried to fill the police cordon with sullen faces.

Department Chief McNulty said: “This was not a peaceful protest. The violence displayed was thuggery and an attempt to intimidate and injure.”

He said gardaí were subjected to “constant physical attacks”.

A police helicopter was targeted with lasers and a police vehicle was set on fire.

About 300 officers were on duty, about half of them from the public order unit.

A water cannon was used but not used; mounted officers and a dog unit also participated.

A female police officer received medical attention for a foot injury. He was discharged from the hospital.

The area around the hotel used to accommodate refugees is still cordoned off.

Gardaí are launching a major security operation at the entrance to the complex on Wednesday afternoon.

Several truckloads of steel barriers and fences arrived.

There is a strong Garda presence at and around the entrance to the complex, where families, including school children, live as part of the Irish government’s international protection program for asylum seekers.

Five men, aged in their 40s and 50s, appeared in court accused of disturbing public order, disturbing the peace and weapons offences.

A woman in her 50s was released without charge. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, An Garda Síochána acting deputy commissioner Paul Cleary said the violence was “unacceptable” and those responsible would be pursued relentlessly.

“We know that we have the ability to identify people and bring them to court, whether they are wearing hoods or masks, and we will pursue that relentlessly,” he said.

Officers were able to “contain the violence and restore order” within two and a half hours, the official said.

“Gardai will always support and facilitate people’s right to protest peacefully but what we witnessed last night went beyond that,” he said.

“This was a violent riot carried out by thugs intent on violence and it was not just an attack on gardaí, it was an attack on community safety and we will not tolerate that.”

Speaking in the Dáil on Wednesday, Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin thanked An Garda Síochána for their “bravery, bravery and professionalism in dealing with a very, very serious and serious situation last night”.

“Gardaí come from our community. They are there to protect us all. It is not credible to think that these people would engage in such vile abuse and then attack them in such a serious way,” Martin said.

The Taoiseach added: “Our criminal justice system needs to hold those responsible for last evening to account.

“We send our condolences to the injured female Garda.”

Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said those behind the violence “wanted to sow dissent in our society”.

They would be met with “a very strong reaction,” the official added.

“I want people involved in this violence to know that they will face a very strong response from An Garda Síochána and our criminal justice system,” O’Callaghan said. he said.

RTÉ’s crime correspondent Paul Reynolds said on Wednesday that police believed the violence was “pre-planned, but they were also more prepared than they had been”. During the troubles in the city in 2023.

He added that officers have better and more effective equipment, more powerful, ineffective sprays and water cannons “that they don’t have to fire.”

“The threat of that was enough to disperse the crowd last night and also the violence was more self-contained because there was a specific area and place outside the hotel where these demonstrators, protesters and violent agitators gathered.” BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster.

“So, unlike the Dublin riots two years ago, it was concentrated in a single area where violence broke out sporadically in many different parts of the city and it took much longer to bring it under control.

“Gardai clearly had a plan last night.”

He said detectives had already begun collecting “very high quality” CCTV footage and also had body camera footage “which will be used to identify other violent demonstrators”.