About 30 individuals gathered outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin last Friday evening to voice their displeasure about what they labelled as an immigrant encampment in their vicinity.
Their number was, however, dwarfed by over a hundred counter-protestors who aligned themselves beside a collection of tents, housing an estimated 170 men who have been seeking shelter for several months now, due to the lack of accommodation for international protection seekers.
There was a substantial presence of Garda personnel, including a number of public order units, though both the protest and counter-protest concluded peacefully.
The counter-protestors, some of whom vigorously waved Palestinian flags, were the earliest to amass, with nearly 100 people converging before 5 pm. While they assembled, a female wielding a megaphone laid out a rough plan.
She charged the congregation, “We’re here to safeguard the tents and we should remain united as a collective,” and added, “If situations escalate, we should stick to each other and move towards the heart of the city until it is safe to disperse.”
By 2024, it is predicted that more than 20,000 international protection seekers could apply for asylum in Ireland.
The certainty that things wouldn’t “escalate” became apparent soon after 5.30pm, as anti-immigration protestors made their presence felt. Occasional chants of “Send them back” were drowned by retorts of “Shout it out loud, be forthright, refugees are welcome here” from across the roadway.
The tents remained largely vacant during the protest. Nevertheless, a man named Ahmad, who had been living inside one of these tents for two weeks, stayed in close proximity. He admitted that the conditions inside the tents were harsh. He was somewhat puzzled by the protest, but expressed that it didn’t pose any threat to him, having travelled from Palestine to Dublin across Europe.