A fire erupted on a large scale in a location designated for asylum seekers in Coolock, situated on the northern fringes of Dublin, earlier today. The fire’s inception was next to an improvised camp formed by anti-immigration demonstrators opposing the idea of accommodating asylum seekers in a disused warehouse.
Before spreading to additional areas, the flames had razed a JCB digger that was deployed to take down the camp. The fire is being tackled by the Dublin Fire Brigade.
The established camp, placed on private land alongside the old Crown Paints warehouse on Malahide Road, has been operational for several months with the purpose of preventing the renovation of the building by workers. There were actions taken to dismantle the camp this morning, causing a volatile dispute between the activists and the police.
Footage circulated on social media reveals demonstrators unleashing verbal abuse at the police. They cited a gathering of men as asylum seekers outside the camp earlier today. Authorities have yet to ascertain the source of the fire. The Dublin Fire Brigade was appealed to for a statement.
A representative from the Garda indicated that officers are currently at the incident site, which she termed as a “public order incident at a location on Malahide Road”. The road is sealed off, and rerouting is being implemented. As the crisis is still active, she stated that An Garda Síochána cannot provide any further specifics at the moment.
Further videos depict a substantial number of emergency vehicles present on the site, encompassing ambulances, Fire Brigade vehicles and Garda cars. That section of the road is barricaded by fences. Earlier today, several labourers and trucks loaded with construction materials were on standby to access the site.
The Department of Children and Equality divulged earlier that they were contemplating the utilisation of the site as a shelter for nearly 550 individuals encompassing families, couples as well as single males and females.