Coolock protests: Garda car set on fire, Dublin Buses surrounded, 12 arrested at site earmarked for asylum seekers

Gardaí have made at least 12 arrests during clashes with anti-immigration protesters at a site earmarked for asylum seekers in Coolock, north Dublin.

A garda car was set alight on Monday evening and two Dublin Bus vehicles were surrounded as protesters moved from the original site towards Coolock Garda Station. A second garda operation is now in place, encircling and protecting the garda station after efforts to vandalise garda vehicles there.

The clashes follow an incident on Monday morning during which a number of fires broke out at a makeshift camp established by protesters objecting to a disused warehouse being used to house migrants.

Just after 6pm, hundreds more people joined an already large crowd of mostly males in their teens and 20s, who had gathered at the site near the old Crown Paints warehouse on the Malahide Road from lunchtime. About 200 gardaí have been deployed to Coolock throughout the day, including about 30 members of the Garda public order unit with riot shields.

Some 30 Garda vehicles are lining the road, which was closed between its junction with Oscar Traynor Road and the Darndale roundabout, a distance of about 1km, after the fires broke out.

Over the course of several hours, gardaí came under sustained attack from protesters hurling rocks and other missiles as they dispersed the crowd using pepper spray.

They made at least 12 arrests during the disturbances, which prompted a large number of local businesses to close.

Gardaí said that a number of Garda vehicles were damaged and officers remain at the scene.

“There is a significant Garda presence in place, which includes several Garda Public Order Units,” a spokesperson said. “Several people have been arrested, and are currently in custody at Garda stations in Dublin, pursuant to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

“The Malahide Road at Coolock is currently closed in both directions, and local diversions are in place. It is the intention to re-open the Malahide Road as soon as it safe to do so. This operation remains ongoing.”

At around 6pm, hundreds of people arrived at the site in Coolock, including a number of far right agitators from outside the county. The crowd became so big and unruly at the garda cordon between the Malahide Road and Greencastle Road that a small group of protesters broke off and walked to Coolock Garda Station, where they began jumping on garda cars.

Two Dublin buses were surrounded by the crowd, but gardaí managed to disperse the group across a larger area. By evening, they had cordoned off an entire section of the industrial area – which includes the Odeon cinema, Power City and Burger King.

A protest camp, which is on private grounds outside the warehouse, was established several months ago to block workers from renovating the property. It is understood there were efforts on Monday morning to dismantle the camp, leading to clashes between protesters and gardaí.

The fire at the site destroyed a mechanical digger, which was being used to prepare the site for development, before spreading to other areas. The cause of the fire, which was brought under control by members of Dublin Fire Brigade, is being investigated.

At least one person, believed to be a security guard on the site, was injured.

Video from the scene shows a man in a tracksuit hitting another man wearing a high vis jacket with an object. In another video, paramedics can be seen taking someone to an ambulance on a stretcher.

Videos posted on social media show protesters hurling abuse at gardaí and a small group of men that protesters claimed were asylum seekers outside the camp. Other videos show a large number of emergency vehicles at the scene and barriers blocking the road.

Dublin Fire Brigade said construction machinery and pallets had been set alight and that it deployed three fire engines from three different stations, as well as a turntable ladder, to the site.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “The scenes we have witnessed in Coolock today are reprehensible.

“The Minister for Justice has briefed me throughout the day and the law will be implemented.

“No person has a right to burn cars, damage property, or attack members of An Garda Siochana and emergency services.

“These actions are criminal and are designed to sow fear and division. We should not accept them being legitimised in any way by describing them as ‘protest’.

“I want to thank An Garda Siochana, who have come under attack today. They have shown extraordinary professionalism.

“A security guard was attacked for simply doing his job. He and his family are in my thoughts and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.”Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she was “appalled at the criminal behaviour” in Coolock.

“I have spoken to the Garda Commissioner and he has assured me that everything will be done to bring those responsible to justice,” she said. “Gardaí were on the scene immediately and the public order unit is onsite. People engaged in such acts will face the full rigours of the law.”

A spokesman for the Department of Integration said workers had attempted to access the site on Monday morning to begin refurbishing it for use as accommodation for people seeking international protection. This process is expected to take several weeks. No asylum seekers were due to be moved onto the site on Monday.

“Protests at the entrance to this site have delayed work beginning on this site for several months,” the spokesman said. “The department condemns all acts of criminality and intimidation of providers and their employees.”

The department previously said it is considering using the site to accommodate about 550 people, including “families, couples, single adult males and single adult females” in modular units.

The spokesman said the department’s Community Engagement Team has engaged with local representatives over the site in Coolock.

“Efforts are ongoing in all areas of the country to source and bring onstream accommodation for people seeking international protection.

“This includes, as part of the new Government Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy, a focus on larger sites on State-owned land with prefabricated and modular units, conversion of commercial buildings, and targeted purchasing of turnkey properties,” he said.

A number of people at the scene said gardaí had entered the encampment at about 3am and removed tents and cleared barricades. It was after this action that the digger was set on fire, a number of women who had gathered on the road said.

A woman who is resident in a family hub around the corner from the site said she believed her “kids would not be safe” if male asylum seekers were housed at the site.

At the camp, man with a megaphone, who identified himself only as “Colm” addressed the crowd and said the plans to use the site for asylum accommodation was part of a plot to “breed out” Irish people and referred to immigrants as “animals”. He led chants of “traitors” but asked that people stop throwing cans and other items at gardaí.

Addressing the Coolock fire in the Seanad, Independent Senator Frances Black said “homeless asylum seekers are now being harassed and assaulted by racists who are tormenting them and broadcasting it on social media, and I think it’s absolutely obscene,

Fianna Fáil Senator and Seanad leader Lisa Chambers said “we just have to put a stop to this type of criminality”.

She described the attack as “shocking. It’s absolutely despicable that anybody could set alight private property, because they have an issue with the migrant facility or facility to house refugees.”

“That just cannot be allowed to become the norm in this country. We see far too many of those situations. It is criminal behaviour, and I have no doubt the gardaí will do everything they can to bring to justice, those who are responsible for that arson attack.”