17 people charged with serious public order offences at Citywest

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Of 24 people arrested following an hours-long standoff with gardaí, whose members were directly struck with fireworks, stones and other debris on Wednesday evening, 17 adults have been charged.

Three members of An Garda Síochána were injured, and two were taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

The 17 adults have been charged with public order offences and are due before the Criminal Courts of Justice on Thursday morning.

Five male juveniles arrested over the course of the incident have been released and will be dealt with under the Youth Diversion Programme, a garda statement added.

Two other adult men who were arrested have been released without charge, with files being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

During the course of Wednesday night's operation, gardaí added, 15 scooters and e-bikes were seized, and a policing and security operation remains in place at Citywest.

One garda who was hospitalised was struck on the head by a bottle, while the other garda sustained a shoulder injury.

Hundreds of people gathered near the entrance of a hotel housing asylum seekers in an area on the west side of the capital on Wednesday.

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

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

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said “many have been arrested” on Wednesday and “more will follow”.

He said gardaí had responded professionally to “thuggish violence” in the area.

He said those arrested would be “charged, named and dealt with relentlessly” by the criminal justice system.

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

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

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

There was also vandalism to the area around the Saggart Luas stop, which runs parallel to the road the protesters were on.

Public order gardaí pushed the crowd further from the hotel by advancing on them with shields.

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

Several gardaí deployed pepper spray during the unrest.

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

As the evening progressed, hundreds of protesters were pushed back along Citywest Drive but continued to face off with gardaí.

Gardaí continued to come under fire from masonry, flares, fireworks, bottles and other debris.

While large parts of the crowd dispersed throughout the night, An Garda Síochána deployed an additional public order unit behind those remaining at the protest shortly after 10pm.

Several of those caught between the two units were tackled and detained as they tried to flee.

The public disorder was predominantly carried out by young adult males and teenagers.

Over the course of the evening, more than 300 members of An Garda Síochána were on duty, including some 150 uniform members and 120 public order members.

While Monday night’s demonstration passed without significant incident, a female garda member was injured during Tuesday’s violence. She has since been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for a foot injury.

A garda vehicle was also set on fire during the unrest earlier in the week, and several other people had been arrested.

Sinn Féin's Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Spokesperson, Matt Carthy, commended the gardaí on their handling of the riots at Citywest.

“I want to commend the gardaí, particularly those on the front line, but also Garda management. And I'm speaking as somebody who has been critical in the past in terms of how Gardaí have managed these type of events. But I think in terms of intelligence and management, we talk a lot about learning lessons. I think it's quite evident that lessons have been learned,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.

“I also want to commend the gardaí for the way in which they've managed public utterances and have clearly distinguished between those who have travelled to, and largely have travelled to the City West complex with a violent intent. And those who have, both from the local community and beyond, who have serious and very genuine concerns about what has transpired over the past couple of days.

“So I think while it's important to recognise the very genuine public anger that many people are feeling, it's also important that gardai have a robust and a speedy response to those who have no other intention other than that," Mr Carthy said.

“I think it's probably fair to say that those who attended last night did so in the full knowledge that this was going to be a violent disturbance, and I think in both instances gardaí managed it well."

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.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the scenes of violence, stating there could be “no justification” for attacks on gardaí.

Protesters were displaying Irish flags, chanting anti-immigration slogans and throwing missiles.

There were also attempts to charge the garda line with horse-drawn sulky carts and scrambler bikes on Tuesday and a police helicopter overhead was targeted with lasers.