Protesters set fire to vehicles and clashed with the police
The protests that broke out in the center of Dublin on Thursday will calm down by Friday morning, Ireland public broadcaster RTÉ says.
According to the police, the protesters set at least one police car on fire and threw bottles and fireworks at the police.
More than 400 police officers were called in to quell the protests, local police said in a statement early this morning.
Director of the Irish Transport Association Dermot O’Leary told RTÉ that protesters destroyed public transport infrastructure and vehicles.
During the night, videos and pictures from the scene have been shared on social media.
One video shows a local bus and tram on fire near the protests.
In connection with some social media publications, claims were spread that the demonstrators were representatives of the extreme right. They were said to be opposed to Ireland’s immigration policy.
Allegations about the perpetrators and their motives circulating on Social media have not been confirmed.
The police chief accused them of being hooligans
Ireland’s police chief described the perpetrators as “crazy hooligans” and accused them of being far-right, RTÉ reported.
The police’s claims about the perpetrators’ far-right background could not be confirmed.
Dermot O’Leary, head of the Irish Transport Association, described the perpetrators as “miserable”.
A reporter from the Irish Times who was on the scene Kitty Holland described for the BBC in a district where unrest broke out, where there is a lot of poverty and problems.
According to Holland, there are many young people living in the area who are being disciplined by the drastic increase in the cost of living.
– They are not politically motivated young people, but desperate people who found a way to vent their despair, commented Holland.
The police are looking for the stabber
The protests broke out after at least one woman and three children were stabbed in the center of Dublin on Thursday afternoon.
The woman and one of the children were seriously injured.
The police arrested a man in his 40s on the spot.
He is said to have been injured.
According to BBC sources, the perpetrator is an Irish citizen who has lived in the country for 20 years.