- Five year old girl in very serious condition
- Woman in her 30s also in serious condition
- The police chief expects many more arrests to follow
- Police blame right-wing extremist agitators for the start of the clashes
DUBLIN, Nov 24 (Portal) – Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday it was safe to return to Dublin city center after police were arrested following overnight unrest sparked by the stabbings of three young children in the street on March 34 had made arrests.
Irish police have warned more violence could follow after rioters smashed shop windows, set fire to police cars, buses and a tram and clashed with officers in violence rarely seen in the Irish capital.
On Black Friday morning, shoppers and tourists returned, walking past police guarding looted stores and patrolling the area in large numbers. Burnt-out vehicles were removed.
“Those involved have brought shame on Dublin, shame on Ireland and shame on their families and themselves,” Varadkar told a news conference.
“Our advice is that it is safe to come into the city. “The riots that took place last night fortunately only occurred in a relatively small part of the city and were contained within a few hours.”
A five-year-old girl remained in a critical condition Friday after receiving emergency treatment for serious injuries sustained in the stabbing that occurred near a school and off the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street.
Police, who say they have not ruled out a motive including whether it was terrorism, have not commented on the nationality of a man arrested in connection with the knife attacks, but there was immediate speculation online that it was was a foreigner.
Police blamed far-right agitators for the start of the violence after a small group of anti-immigrant protesters arrived at the scene of the stabbing and clashed with police.
Varadkar said his government would take immediate steps to toughen anti-hate legislation, which he said was ill-suited to the social media age.
“As a country we must take back Ireland. We must take it away from the cowers who hide behind masks and try to intimidate us with their violence,” Varadkar said in an emotional statement earlier on Friday.
“Element of radicalization”
[1/6]A worker covers up rubble while another cleans the street after a riot broke out following a knife attack at a school that left several children and adults injured in Dublin, Ireland, November 24, 2023. Portal/Clodagh Kilcoyne acquires license rights
The attack was condemned by all political parties, including the main opposition party, Sinn Féin.
Police Commissioner Drew Harris told a news conference the scenes in the city were unprecedented, adding that there would be a very heavy police presence on Friday.
“I think we have seen an element of radicalization. We have seen a group of people who literally take a thimbleful of facts, make a vat full of hateful assumptions, and then behave in ways that are inflammatory and disruptive to our society.”
It took officers several hours to regain control after a group of local youths joined the protesters. Some of them shouted “Get them out” and one carried a sign saying “Irish Lives Matter”. The crowd grew to around 200 to 300 people.
British minister Michael Gove, who was in Dublin to meet Varadkar, told reporters the violence was shocking. “It’s a mark of Ireland that something like this is so rare,” he said.
During the height of the violence, people were urged to stay away from large parts of the city. Harris said 13 stores were damaged or looted, 11 police cars, as well as three buses and a tram were damaged and destroyed. One officer was seriously injured.
The barricades erected in some shopping streets where Black Friday sales were to take place had been removed by lunchtime.
“We don’t know if this will happen again tonight. Right now we’re worried,” said Hassan Alia, a Foot Locker security guard who stood outside the closed store and was also working Thursday evening.
Members of the public intervened early in the attack, including a Brazilian Deliveroo rider who told the Journal website that he knocked the attacker to the ground by hitting him with his helmet.
Harris said the injured girl remained in very serious condition and a teacher in her 30s was also in serious condition. The other two children, a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, suffered less serious injuries.
The man, in his late 40s, who was also treated for serious injuries, was arrested by police, who said they were not looking for any other suspects.
There are no far-right parties elected to the Irish parliament, but small anti-immigrant protests have increased over the past year. The government is reviewing security around Parliament after a recent protest left MPs stranded in Parliament.
Reporting by Padraic Halpin and Graham Fahy, additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Edited by Kate Holton, William Maclean, Kirsten Donovan
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