‘This is not fun and games’: Irish police ask people not to engage in disorder

Irish police have appealed to people, in particular young males, not to engage in public disorder after two days of riots near a hotel housing asylum seekers.

An Garda Siochana said public disorder is not “fun and games” and could have “reverberations” for their futures.

Gardai have released footage on social media of what they said was “a very vivid picture” of how gardai are treated, as they warned another protest is scheduled for Thursday night.

They made the appeal after significant damage was caused in Saggart in west Dublin after two nights of violent disorder.

The third night of demonstrations at Citywest Hotel took place on Wednesday, after an alleged sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl in the vicinity of the hotel in the early hours of Monday.

A 26-year-old man, who cannot be named because of legal restrictions that apply to all sexual assault cases in Ireland, appeared in court on Tuesday charged over the alleged incident.

Reacting to the disorder, gardai appealed to the public to refrain from taking part in any riotous behaviour – in particular to young males.

They said “this is not fun and games” or “entertainment for social media” and appealed to others to influence younger people and ask them not to get involved.

Assistant Commissioner Cliona Richardson warned young people to stay away from disorder at Citywest and said regardless of whether someone intends to cause damage or gets swept up in it, “that will have reverberations for you”.

She said it appeared people were coming from outside Dublin to attend the protests.

She said the damage caused and disruption to daily life in Saggart is “unacceptable”, and she thanked members of the community and emergency services who had helped gardai.

Ms Richardson said people of “all different ages” had come out to the protest that turned violent, but there was a particularly younger cohort of people present on Wednesday night.

“These young men and young women… are making a decision that would have life-changing aspects of them down the road,” she said. “They may not feel at the time that they were going out to cause criminal damage or violence, however they may get swept up in it.

“In fact, we can see from November 2023, the incident in Dublin City, we now have very young people doing quite significant prison time for decisions that they made.

“So, again, I would appeal to those people, think about your decisions. Don’t get swept up in something that you will regret later, and a lot of people are regretting it today.”

In relation to the disorder, gardai said 31 people had been arrested, 23 of which, 21 males and two females, have appeared before the District Court.

It said five male juveniles who were arrested have been released and will be dealt with under the Youth Diversion Programme.

Four garda members were injured and received hospital treatment but have been discharged.

Gardai have also seized 15 scooters and e-bikes, and a policing and security operation remains in place at Citywest.

They said they were continuing to review CCTV and body-worn camera footage and carrying out examinations at various locations.

Between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesday, protesters again faced off with around 40 uniformed gardai, who were then replaced with the Public Order Unit.

Protesters carried Irish flags, chanted anti-immigration slogans and threw missiles.

Public order gardai pushed the crowd further from the hotel by advancing with shields.

A mounted garda unit and a dog unit were at the scene and a police helicopter provided air support.

Several gardai deployed pepper spray during the unrest.

The Garda presence at Citywest will remain in place for four to five days, Chief Superintendent Michael McNulty has said.

He said they are “constantly” engaging with the community to reassure them.

“We’re getting huge support from the community, absolutely tremendous support from the community, that’s very much appreciated,” he added.

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”.

Irish Premier Micheal Martin condemned the scenes of violence and said there could be “no justification” for attacks on gardai.

Garda Representative Association vice-president Niall Hodgins praised gardai for holding an “extremely volatile front line” at Citywest on Wednesday night.

“What started out as a planned public protest has sadly descended into an ongoing full-scale threat to the safety of our members and the public that they so bravely stand to protect.

“It is our firm belief that these apparent protests are nothing but the continuation of violent riotous behaviour from night to night with the sole intention of causing damage to property and injury to our colleagues who bravely continue to protect the public.

“We have grave concerns for the safety of our members and colleagues, especially those deployed initially to face these violent thugs prior to the deployment of the public order units.

“It is becoming obvious that a more robust response is required far earlier to ensure no further injuries are inflicted on our members.”