Irish police arrest 23 during second night of disorder near asylum seeker hotel

Twenty-three people were arrested following an hours-long standoff with Irish police, whose members were directly struck with fireworks, stones and other debris.

Two members of the Irish police service, An Garda Siochana, were taken to hospital with injuries sustained during clashes with protesters.

One garda 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 in the Republic of Ireland, 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 gardai 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 gardai.

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 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 gardai 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 gardai 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 gardai.

Gardai 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 Siochana 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 Siochana 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.

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.”

Irish premier Micheal Martin condemned the scenes of violence, stating there could be “no justification” for attacks on gardai.

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.