Irish police chief warns of further disruption by
far right after Dublin riot
Drew Harris says radicalised people exploited
‘terrible crime’ of knife attack to unleash mayhem on streets
Rory
Carroll Ireland correspondent
@rorycarroll72
Fri 24 Nov
2023 11.24 CET
Ireland’s
police chief has warned that far-right radicalisation will continue to disrupt
the country after a night of arson, rioting and looting left parts of Dublin
resembling a war zone.
The capital
was tense but calm on Friday as significant numbers of police remained on the
streets and Dublin counted the cost of an anti-immigrant protest that turned
into anarchy, leaving the political establishment shocked.
The cleanup
began as fresh details emerged of the stabbing attack outside a school that
left three children and a carer injured, two of them critically, and the
suspect, reportedly a naturalised Irish citizen in his 50s, in custody and
requiring medical treatment.
Claims that
the suspect was a foreigner spread online soon after the attack, which happened
at about 1.30pm on Thursday, and drew a crowd to the scene at Parnell Square in
the north inner city, leading to a riot in which 13 shops were looted, a tram
and two buses torched, 11 police vehicles damaged, several officers injured –
one seriously – and 34 people arrested.
Drew
Harris, the Irish police commissioner, said people radicalised by far-right
ideology and social media exploited a “terrible crime” to unleash mayhem. “What
we saw last night was an extraordinary outbreak of violence. These are scenes
that we have not seen in decades,” he told a press conference on Friday. “We
have seen an element of radicalisation that is disruptive to our society.”
The scale
of the unrest and level of hatred directed at officers would compel a
fundamental review of public order tactics, said Harris. “We have to make the
assumption that we’ll see further such protests.” More arrests would follow as
police study CCTV footage, he said.
The justice
minister, Helen McEntee, said some of those arrested would appear in court on
Friday and if convicted of assaults on police could face stiff sentences. “We
have very, very strong legislation – up to 10 years in prison with up to 12
years as well for someone who assaulted a member of An Garda Síochána,” she
told RTÉ.
Resentment
towards asylum seekers has in recent years fused with a housing crisis and
concern about crime, leading to protests outside refugee centres, marches and a
raucous protest in September outside the Oireachtas, Ireland’s legislature,
which trapped lawmakers.
The
stabbing incident happened outside a primary school, Gaelscoil Choláiste
Mhuire, on Parnell Square, a busy thoroughfare that connects to O’Connell
Street, Dublin’s main boulevard. A five-year-old girl and a female creche
worker in her 30s were critically injured. A five-year-old boy and a
six-year-old girl were treated for less severe injuries.
Bystanders
disarmed the suspect, who reportedly had a large knife, and pinned him to the
ground until police arrived. He is being treated in hospital and under guard.
Police said the motive remained unclear but ruled out any terrorist link.
The creche
worker, who has not been named, and a 43-year-old Brazilian Deliveroo driver,
Caio Benicio, were hailed as heroes for intervening. “At first I thought it was
a fight with a man and a woman. A normal fight like, you know, and I slowed
down my motorcycle to see more closely what’s happening,” he told RTÉ. The
woman was trying to pull a girl away, he said.
“She was
very, very brave, you know, because you could get the girl from the man, and
the little girl run away and the man he grabbed another one. So when I saw the
knife, I just pull up, I just break my bike and pull up my motorcycle. I saw
him stab the little girl.”
Benicio
took off his helmet and used it as a weapon, he said. “Just hit him in the head
with all power I have. And he fell down. And I hit him and then come other
people and start to kick him.” Benicio lamented the ensuing riot. “There are
protests against immigrants and I am immigrant and I was there, right there to
protect Irish people.”
As
speculation about the suspect’s nationality spread online, anti-immigrant
activists flocked to the city centre. Bolstered by gangs of youths, they
breached the police cordon around the crime scene and started roaming O’Connell
Street, smashing windows, setting vehicles on fire and targeting some of the
400 police officers who tried to restore order.
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