Fireworks and stones thrown at gardaí for second night at asylum seeker hotel
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
Stones and fireworks have been thrown at gardaí for a second consecutive night in Dublin.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered near the entrance of the Citywest hotel in Saggart.
It is 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 due to rules that apply to all sexual assault cases in Ireland, appeared in court on Tuesday charged over the alleged incident.
Multiple arrests were made amid the serious disorder on Tuesday night and An Garda Siochana pledged a “robust response” if violence continued.
Between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesday, hundreds of 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 of those continued to throw masonry, flares, glass bottles and wooden planks at An Garda Siochana members.
There was also vandalism to the area around the Saggart Luas tram 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.
At least one garda was affected by pepper spray.
Those involved in the disorder also attempted to block garda vehicles from entering the area with steel barriers.
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.
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.”
The protest outside the hotel came after an alleged sexual assault on a girl in the vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
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.
