Clashes between police and at least 1,000 protesters erupted on Tuesday outside the hotel housing asylum seekers; police later reported six arrests, LETA reported citing AFP.
The demonstration took place after a 26-year-old asylum seeker was accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl near the Citywest hotel, where asylum seekers are accommodated, in the village of Saggart in southwest Dublin, local media reported.
Protesters carried Irish flags and signs reading "Irish lives matter," chanting "Get them out!".
Demonstrators threw bricks, glass bottles, and firecrackers at police, set a police van on fire, and directed lasers at a police helicopter. One police officer was injured in the leg. Police pushed back the protesters and used pepper spray to disperse them from the hotel complex.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin described the incident as "very serious and very grave," condemning the "violent disorder" and the "despicable" attacks on police officers.
The 26-year-old man appeared in court on Tuesday regarding the sexual assault that occurred near the hotel; it was reported that the victim had been placed under state care and had "secretly disappeared" during a trip to central Dublin at the time of the incident.
Justice and Migration Minister Jim O'Callaghan condemned the riots, mentioning the attacks on police. "Unfortunately, the use of crime as a tool by people seeking to sow division in our society was not unexpected," he stated.
Police noted that the protest was organized by "various groups on social media that incite hatred and violence and call on others to join."
In recent years, negative attitudes towards immigration have intensified in Ireland and the UK, and hotels housing asylum seekers often become hotspots for protests and violence. In June, clashes also occurred in Northern Ireland at hotels for migrants, resulting in dozens of injured police officers. The police did not confirm the nationality of the accused teenagers in that case, but they requested a Romanian language interpreter in court; authorities characterized the incidents as "racist."
