Six people were arrested after a crowd outside a Dublin-area hotel housing migrants threw bricks, bottles, and fireworks at police and set a police van on fire, Ireland’s national police force, the Garda Siochana, said Wednesday. One officer was treated for a foot injury.
The incident occurred Tuesday evening outside the CityWest Hotel in Saggart, following reports of a sexual assault in the area. Hundreds gathered, waving Irish flags, and some attempted to charge the police line using horse-drawn carts. Officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Police Commissioner Justin Kelly condemned the violence as “thuggery by a mob intent on violence,” while Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the disorder was unjustified. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan confirmed a man had been arrested in connection with the alleged sexual assault.
Hotels housing asylum-seekers have frequently attracted protests in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Britain, often linked to crime reports and fueled by anti-immigration and far-right campaigns. O’Callaghan said the use of such incidents to stir unrest is “not unexpected,” emphasizing that peaceful protest is a democratic right, but violence is not.