Following a night of upheaval in north Dublin at an abandoned factory chosen for international asylum seekers, a male was apprehended and three Garda Síochána officials were wounded. On Friday night, one more blaze originated from the former Crown Paints factory on Malahide Road, Coolock, following an anti-immigration demonstration that had over 500 participants.
A man in his twenties was seized by the Gardaí on suspicions of public order violations and transported to a Dublin Garda station. Among the three injured Gardaí, one was admitted to the hospital on Friday concerning facial wounds.
Gardaí blocked Malahide Road once again on Friday around 7.30pm as flames were spotted at the location. The lobby area, which had previously suffered fire damage the prior night, was once again impacted. The Dublin Fire Brigade was prompted to send numerous units to the area promptly.
As minor altercations broke out, Garda public order squad members faced off against the gathering, dispelling it utilising shields and pepper spray. A numerous protesters group had earlier marched from the location to the proximate Coolock Garda station to express grievances regarding the law enforcement actions in the region for the past week.
Uniformed Gardaí, flanked by the public order unit and investigators, intercepted the crowd on Oscar Traynor Road, just a short distance away from the station. Nonetheless, several emissaries were authorised to pass the Garda barricades to deliver a letter complaining about law enforcement tactics during street unrest in the region earlier in the week.
The events were monitored by a Garda helicopter, with a highly visible presence of the force kept in the locality. The blaze seemed to have been quickly brought under control, with several fire trucks stationed around 200 metres away on Malahide Road. Footage of the fire, captured from behind a tall concrete fence enclosing the location, was circulated on social media.
The congregation which advanced to a proximity of 100 metres from the Garda station scattered just after seven in the evening, with a good number retracing their steps to the nearby abandoned Crown Paints location to continue their demonstration. Not long afterwards, flames were seen at the site. The ‘Coolock Says No’ group had mobilised the protest group to assemble at this site from the late part of the afternoon, and conduct a protest from six in the evening. The convened crowd then proceeded along both lanes of Malahide Road, causing a blockade in both directions.
A brief rally ensued, featuring several orators including the newly installed Dublin city councillor Malachy Steenson, Councillor Patrick Quinlan of the National Party and Councillor Glen Moore, also from the National Party. Earlier on, the gardaí had conducted searches within the area with the intention of nipping in the bud any attempts to hide objects like petrol bombs in preparation for the protest.
A further flare up occurred at the site on Monday when the gardaí swooped in just before four in the morning to attempt to dismantle a protest camp that had been stationed at the entrance since March. The response to this was a petrol bomb attack and resultant fire which destroyed an excavator.
As the day wore on, it was punctuated by serious episodes of disharmony, with the majority of those involved gradually disappearing by around half past nine in the evening. The crowd were chased away by the gardaí who armed themselves with pepper sprays and shields to reopen the blocked Malahide Road to vehicles after a lengthy closure.
Whilst Tuesday evening experienced comparable, albeit briefer and less intense unrest, members of the public order unit were deployed once again to deal with minor scuffles with the gardaí taking place within the smaller crowd. Following the start of the initial fire on Thursday evening, arson is now under suspicion.