A man in his 30s has been arrested following the alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl on the grounds of a Dublin hotel recently purchased to house asylum seekers
Reanna Smith US News Reporter
03:09 ET, 21 Oct 2025
Protestors have gathered outside the entrance to Citywest Hotel (Image: collinsphotos.com)
A protest has broken out outside the grounds of a Dublin hotel where a 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by an asylum seeker.
The girl is alleged to have been sexually assaulted by a foreign national male in his 30s on the grounds of the Citywest Hotel in Ireland’s capital on Sunday. The incident did not happen inside the building, which was recently purchased by the government to house asylum seekers.
The suspect, who was arrested at the scene, is understood to be an International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) applicant from Africa. Officers were called to the scene on Sunday morning, where they found the young child, who is believed to be in the care of Tusla, the State’s Child and Family Agency.
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A 10-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted on the grounds of the hotel (Image: collinsphotos.com)
The 10-year-old, who has been in care, was not being housed in the hotel. Tusla confirmed a girl in its care “was involved in a serious incident over the weekend”.
In a late statement on Monday night, Tusla said a young girl in its care “absconded from staff whilst on a planned recreational trip with staff in the city centre”. A group of protesters has gathered outside the hotel in the wake of the incident.
Members of the Garda Public Order Unit and other uniformed officers are on the scene to deal with any potential disorder among the group that has gathered. Several people are present, some of whom are holding the tricolour and a banner which reads “SOS: Save Our Saggart.”
Gardai are questioning the suspect, while the child is receiving care Gardai said in a statement: “Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault of a female juvenile reported to have occurred at Saggart, Co. Dublin on Monday, 20th October 2025.
“A male (30s) has been arrested and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at a Garda Station in the Dublin region. Investigations are ongoing.”
“Tusla can confirm that a young girl, who was volunteered by her family into the care of the Agency in February of this year due to significant behavioural issues, was involved in a serious incident over the weekend,” the statement from Tusla read.
“The young girl was living in a fully staffed, registered residential placement, provided by a funded partner in the community and voluntary sector. She absconded from staff whilst on a planned recreational trip with staff in the city centre.
“Staff immediately reported her missing to An Garda Síochána. She was later found to have returned to a relative’s home, again absconding from that house later in the evening. She remained in phone contact with staff but would not identify her precise location.”
The statement continued: “She subsequently told staff that she had been involved in a serious incident. Staff did eventually ascertain her location through details she provided, and alerted AGS who did locate her.
“Our priority now is on supporting the young girl and her family and liaising with An Garda Síochána as part of their investigation, and it is not appropriate to share any further details at this time.”
Members of the Garda Public Order Unit and other uniformed officers are on the scene to deal with any potential disorder (Image: collinsphotos.com)
Gardai are looking into whether the suspect has been living at the hotel. The State has been leasing the Citywest site since 2020, first as part of the Covid-19 response and then since 2022 as a transit hub and accommodation centre for both people fleeing the war in Ukraine and people seeking international protection.
The government recently purchased the 6.7 hectares site for €148 million to turn it into a permanent international protection accommodation centre. Local Fianna Fáil TD John Lahart said: “There’s a number of agencies there with a number of questions to answer clearly
Ryan Casey, the boyfriend of murdered schoolteacher Ashling Murphy, has reacted to the alleged crime. Ashling, 23, was stabbed to death by Slovak national Jozef Puska in a random attack while out for a run in Tullamore, Co Offaly in January 2022.
Ryan told the Irish Mirror: “How many more horrendous cases like this have to happen in this country before we wake up and put a stop this madness? A 10 year old child is the epitome of innocence. This poor child is yet another girl who has been let down by the state, this should not have happened.”
He added: “The lack of action from our current government on the issue of protecting our women and children across many areas and many realms over the last few years has been utterly unacceptable! They all should hang their heads in shame for this.”