Coolock violence just the latest attack on sites earmarked for asylum seekers | BreakingNews.ie

The attack on the former Crown Paints factory site in Coolock is just the latest incident of violence and arson on a building earmarked for refugees in the last year.

At the site on the Malahide Road, anti-immigration protesters set a number of fires, one of which burnt a JCB digger, injured a security guard and threw objects at gardaí.

A number of petrol bombs were thrown and public order units brought the situation under control. A number of people have since been arrested and charged.

It is just the latest of over 20 incidents of arson at sites earmarked for asylum seekers over the past year.

In January, Niamh McDonald of the Hope and Courage Collective (an organisation that monitors far-right and anti-immigrant activity), told BreakingNews.ie that her organisation had documented over 20 arson attacks on buildings that had been earmarked for refugee accommodation in the past year.

In May, an RTÉ Prime Time Report said the figure of arson attacks now stood at 27 incidents.

They stretch back over a number of years, but just looking at 2024, a trend of escalating violence is evident.

January 3rd: Fethard, Co Tipperary

A disused primary school building was set alight. Like many of the attacks, online disinformation was the root cause. After the attack, the Department of Integration confirmed the building had not been considered for asylum seeker accommodation.

January 10th: Sandyford, Co Dublin

A fire broke out at a former guesthouse in Sandyford, Co Dublin. Again, online rumours about the building hosting asylum seekers proved to be false.

January 16th: Lanesborough, Co Longford

On this occasion, a former convent in Lanesborough, Co Longford, that was due to host Ukrainian refugees was set alight.

February 4th: Tallaght, Dublin

A former nursing home in Tallaght which was being assessed for asylum seeker accommodation was set alight in a large fire which 40 members of Dublin Fire Brigade brought under control.

February 7th: Leixlip, Co Kildare

After more disinformation, a vacant building in Leixlip, Co Kildare was set alight.

April 13th: Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow

A fire was set at a former HSE building in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow on April 13th.

River Lodge had been identified as a suitable building to host asylum seekers by the Department of Integration.

The same site was also targeted on April 25th, and Garda investigations into the incidents are ongoing.

May 17th: Clonmel, Co Tipperary

A site on Heywood Road outside Clonmel was targeted with a number of security workers assaulted, vehicles were also damaged after fires were lit at the site.

The HSE site had been identified for potential modular homes for Ukrainian refugees.

Engagement needed, or ‘pure thuggery’?

A lack of engagement with communities has often been cited as the cause of tensions over the housing of migrants.

However, locals with legitimate concerns are often targets of far-right, anti-immigrant figures who look to stoke violence.

Taoiseach Simon Harris labelled the latest incident in Coolock as “pure thuggery”.

“I am somewhat perplexed that this morning that I still hear in media and political discourse a reference to protesters.

“To be clear, when you decide to use a petrol bomb, you lost your right to be called a protester.

“I’m not quite sure why we have decided to, in any manner or means, legitimatise in any way, shape or form the actions of people who engaged in sheer thuggery yesterday evening and try to harm the men and women of An Garda Síochána, disrupt a community and cause utter chaos.

“I want to pay respect to the people of Coolock, people who called for calm, and indeed people who cleaned up after others came to their community to cause chaos,” the Taoiseach said.

“Everybody knew this facility was going to be used to provide shelter for migrants. People can agree or disagree, but no amount of community engagement is required to tell somebody not to throw a brick, not to set a digger on fire, not to harm a security guard, not to put the men and women of An Garda Síochána in danger.”

“I’ve had it up to here with this ‘whataboutery’,” he said.

“We will continue to communicate better with communities – good, decent people across the country who want to talk about legitimate issues.

“There’s such a role for that, every community has a right to be engaged with, [but] what we saw last night was such a distance away from my question about community engagement.

“It was sheer thuggery. It should be called out as such, and I want to really thank the Gardaí for the very swift action they took in a very difficult circumstance that amounted to many arrests.”