Dublin Erupts

Hundreds of rioters flocked to the streets to protest an alleged sexual assault committed by an asylum seeker, causing Dublin to erupt in violence for the second consecutive night.

Hundreds of protesters assembled near the entrance of the CityWest hotel, in Saggart, which accommodates asylum seekers in an area on the west side of the capital.

A 26-year-old man, who cannot be named due to rules that apply to all sexual assault cases in the Republic of Ireland, emerged in court on Tuesday charged over the alleged incident.

Between 7 pm and 8 pm on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters again faced off with around 40 uniformed gardai.

At least 23 arrests were made amid the serious disorder, and the Irish police service, An Garda Siochana, pledged a ‘robust response’ if violence continued. 

The uniformed officers were replaced with the Public Order Unit, whose members held plastic shields and extra body protection, after officers in the original cordon were pummeled with debris, stones and fireworks.

Some of those continued to throw masonry, flares, glass bottles and wooden planks at An Garda Siochana members.

There was also vandalism in the area around the Saggart Luas tram stop, which runs parallel to the road where the protesters were located.

The public order gardai moved forward with shields, pushing the crowd away from the hotel.

A police helicopter provided air support, and there were mounted garda and dog units present.

At least one garda was affected by pepper spray.

Those involved in the disorder also tried to block garda vehicles from entering the area with steel barriers.

It is the third night of demonstrations at Citywest following an apparent sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl in the area of the hotel in the early hours of Monday morning. 

The protest on Monday night went off without any major problems, but Tuesday’s violence wounded a female garda member. After being treated for a foot injury, she was later released from the hospital.

A garda vehicle was also set on fire during the turmoil earlier in the week.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, who visited the scene in the aftermath of the violence, told reporters on Wednesday he is ‘determined’ that further people will be ‘brought before the courts to face justice’.

He said the disorder was not a peaceful protest and added: ‘This was violence with the intent to damage the Citywest building and intimidate those within.’

A girl in the area was allegedly sexually assaulted early on Monday morning, which sparked the demonstration outside the hotel.

Irish Premier Micheal Martin condemned the scenes of brutality, stating there could be ‘no justification’ for attacks on gardai.

Demonstrators were hurling projectiles, yelling anti-immigration chants, and flying Irish flags.

On Tuesday, there were further efforts to use scrambler motorcycles and horse-drawn sulky carts to charge the garda queue, and lasers were fired at a police aircraft in the sky.

What I would like to know is, why was a 10-year-old girl in the area of the said hotel in the early hours of Monday morning? She should have been tucked up safely in bed, where I would suspect most 10-year-olds would be at such an early hour.

However, rape is rape, especially of a child, and this is appalling, but you can mark my words, demonstrations will become more enraged until these people are expelled, along with the rest of them.

The time when we say ‘they’re not all like that’ is over because we have to now treat all illegal immigrants as a threat, because there are far too many coming to our shores.

The fuse has been ignited in this country. How long till it hits the barrel?

The trouble is, we have a government that prefers to debate transgender rights, rather than the rights of the local communities that are not being protected from this plague.