Heavy Irish police presence prevents repeat of rioting in Dublin

Ireland’s Garda police officers make an arrest on O’Connell Street in Dublin on November 24, 2023. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Friday that protesters who battled police and looted shops in Dublin after a school knife attack were motivated by “hate” and brought “shame on Ireland”. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)

Dublin, Ireland — Irish police were out in force Friday night in Dublin to prevent a repeat of rioting blamed on far-right agitators that erupted after a knife attack outside a school that injured three children.

Officers made sporadic arrests after darkness fell as youths began to congregate on O’Connell Street, one of the city’s most famous throughfares that was the scene of violence, vehicle fires and looting the previous night.

But the situation was generally stable, with the country’s police force — known as Garda Siochana — posting on social media that “Dublin city centre is open for normal business”.

“We have an enhanced policing plan in place this evening,” it said, adding that people were welcome there over the coming weekend.

READ: Violent clashes break out in Dublin after knife attack that injured 3 children

Water cannons borrowed from Northern Irish police were on standby, however, should the situation deteriorate.

The relative calm was in stark contrast to 24 hours earlier, in what Prime minister Leo Varadkar called the worst violence in decades which had brought “shame” on Ireland.

Police blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology”.

The unrest came after three children were wounded in a stabbing near the centre of the Irish capital. A five-year-old girl was left in a critical condition in hospital.

The subsequent violence — which resulted in dozens of arrests — started when agitators broke through a police cordon around the scene of the attack.

Hundreds of rioters then set buses and trams alight and looted shops.

‘Chaos’

Varadkar said the damage done to the Irish capital’s public infrastructure could cost tens of millions of euros.

As well as the five-year-old, two other children and two adults — a woman and the suspected perpetrator of the attack — were taken to hospital with lesser injuries.

Rumours on social media about the nationality of the assailant, who police only described as a man in his 50s, helped fuel the ensuing unrest.

“They (the rioters) did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people,” Varadkar said.

“They did so because they’re filled with hate. They love violence. They love chaos, and they love causing pain to others,” he added.

The Irish leader drew a contrast with those who disarmed the attacker, including a Brazilian Deliveroo driver and 17-year-old trainee French chef Alan Loren-Guille.

French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned Loren-Guille “to congratulate him and thank him for this act of bravery that saved lives and made us all proud”, his office told AFP.

Varadkar vowed to use the “full resources of the law… to punish those involved in yesterday’s grotesque events”.

New laws would be passed in the coming weeks “to make better use of” CCTV evidence, he said.

Government ministers met Friday evening to discuss the situation, with Justice Minister Helen McEntee briefing them that 34 people were arrested during the disturbances.

“She indicated that (police) are trawling 6,000 hours of CCTV footage and further arrests are certain,” Varadkar’s office said.

Ireland’s Garda police officers make an arrest on O’Connell Street in Dublin on November 24, 2023. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Friday that protesters who battled police and looted shops in Dublin after a school knife attack on November 23, were motivated by “hate” and brought “shame on Ireland”. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)

‘Anger’

Ireland will also “modernise” laws regarding hate and incitement, with world-renowned cage fighter Conor McGregor likely to come under the spotlight.

The Dublin native has recently sent a series of social media posts criticising the government’s immigration policy, writing to his 10 million followers: “Ireland, we are at war.”

On Friday he posted “I do not condone last night’s riots” before adding “I do understand frustrations however”.

The unrest is the latest sign of tensions in Ireland over immigration, after several years of increased asylum seeker and refugee arrivals.

The authorities and academics say “far-right” ideologues are fuelling the frictions.

A few bunches of flowers marked the school scene where the stabbings occurred, with feelings still running high Friday.

“There’s a lot of anger and the government is pretending it’s just far-right,” Australian Jamie McGlue, who has lived in Dublin for four years, told AFP.

“But there’s legitimate grievances and that is fuelling these crazy people to take advantage.”.

But local Robbie Hammond, 28, said the rioting was “not the way to make progress”.

Police Commissioner Drew Harris told a press conference that several of the 400 responding officers were injured, one of them seriously, when projectiles were thrown at them.

“These are scenes that we have not seen in decades,” Harris said.