DUBLIN: Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris on Monday condemned violent anti-immigration clashes at a planned accommodation facility for asylum seekers in Dublin as “reprehensible” as arrests were made on 15
The latest clashes are at sites reserved for asylum seekers, who have arrived in Ireland in increasing numbers in recent years.
Videos posted on social media showed machinery and construction materials on fire at the construction site, a former paint factory in the north of the capital.
Protesters threw bricks and set off fireworks at police, who used pepper spray to disperse the crowd of more than 100 mostly male teenagers.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said “no person has the right to burn cars, damage property” or attack police.
“These actions are criminal and designed to sow fear and division. We should not accept that they are in any way legitimized by describing them as ‘protest,'” Harris added in a statement.
“Several Garda vehicles were damaged,” police said, using the name for the Irish National Force.
One video showed a person believed to be a worker at the site, which is to be converted into accommodation for up to 500 asylum seekers, being taken away from the site on a stretcher.
Protests at the entrance to the site delayed the start of work “for several months”, the Ministry of Integration said.
The violence was sparked by a provider trying to start work, said the ministry, which is responsible for housing asylum seekers.
“The ministry condemns all acts of criminal activity and intimidation of providers and their employees,” it said.
Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Irish Times that she was “horrified” by the scenes and that those involved would face “the full extent of the law”.
Since 2022, there has been a sharp increase in arson attacks on properties associated with the accommodation of asylum seekers across the country. During the violent riots in Dublin last November, which sparked unrest over increased immigration and sparked a knife attack outside a school, rioters also targeted several properties used to house asylum seekers.
