Fire breaks out in Irish asylum centre; suspected arson – JURIST

A fire broke out for the third consecutive night on Saturday night at a former factory in Coolock, Ireland, which was to be used to house asylum seekers. While firefighters have said the latest blaze has been brought under control, this is the latest episode in a series of unrest and violent incidents as local residents protest against the influx of international protection applicants. According to The Irish Times, the first fire on Thursday is being treated as arson by Gardaí.

Violent incidents occurred in the north Dublin suburb of Coolock early on Monday afternoon. When Irish police arrived, several roads were closed, Gardaí were circling the area with signs and helicopters were approaching from the air to monitor the situation. Dublin Fire Service also released a statement on X (formerly Twitter) reporting closed roads and fires.

A total of 21 people were arrested in Coolock this week in connection with the protests. 15 of the demonstrators, 13 men and two women, later appeared at the criminal courts for a special session and were calculated with violations of public order pursuant to Section 6 And Section 8 the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.

Taoiseach Simon Harris sentenced the violence in Coolock, which he described as “pure brutality”, and Justice Minister Helen McEntee said on X (formerly Twitter) that there was no place for the “violent criminal behaviour” in society. However, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald claimed that the government had not consulted Coolock residents before the planned placement of the asylum centre in their neighbourhood. McDonald said that the concerns of Coolock’s predominantly working class residents had not been “taken seriously”.

A protest campsite was set up in March to stop workers from renovating the area in Coolock. The former Crowns Paints site was to be redeveloped to house international protection applicants in Dublin. Protesters had erected huts with slogans and banners reading “Coolock says no” and have been disrupting and blocking traffic for the past few months, with some of them being arrested. However, the situation escalated early on Monday after a protester posted on TikTok that gardaí were near the renovation site at 3:51am. Security guards arrived at 5am and a JCB excavator was demolishing the huts, and by 8am social media posts were being made to rally protesters to the scene.