Shattered glass, a torn-down public bin and piles of bricks lay strewn across Garter Lane outside the former Citywest Hotel on Wednesday morning following a night of violence.
A few metres away, the Garda van set alight by a mob the night before was being removed by a tow truck.
Parents walking their children to nearby schools on the busy road in Saggart, Co Dublin, nodded in disbelief at the scene that unfolded the previous evening.
Fireworks were launched at gardaí during a large protest involving up to 1,000 people, with six arrested following the disturbances.
Protesters began gathering outside the former hotel on Tuesday evening, near where an alleged sexual assault took place. The centre is being used by the State as accommodation for international protection applicants.
One local resident said he walked down to have a look at about 7pm after being told by his daughter there were “thousands of people” gathered on the road.
“It was absolute mayhem. It wasn’t even a protest,” he said. “It was just fellas with their faces covered. You just knew they were here for one reason only.
“I think there were people protesting earlier in the evening but what came after just took over. They were only up here for one thing only. There’s talk that this might happen again tonight, but I don’t know.”
[ Ninety minutes of madness: How the Citywest riot exploded and then was quelledOpens in new window ]
A van set on fire by protesters at Citywest Hotel on Tuesday night is removed from the scene on Wednesday morning. Photograph: Sarah Burns
The man, who has three teenage daughters, added that the International Protection Accommodation Service centre “shouldn’t be here” and that there has been no engagement from local politicians on the issue.
“My daughters have been heckled and whistled at,” he said. “It’s intimidating when they’re seeing gangs of 20 men coming off the Luas.
“If we could move, we would move. Definitely. There’s a different vibe now around the place since the centre went in.”
A young mother pushing a buggy, who has been living in Citywest for 20 years, described the protest as “absolutely disgraceful”.
“Obviously people shouldn’t be doing that, but I wouldn’t agree with the centre being there,” she said.
“Our big worry is the schools, there are men constantly hanging around and then even for them having to witness all this walking to school this morning. What are you even supposed to tell them? It’s not right.”
[ ‘Hold your ground’: Six arrested as Garda van burned at Citywest HotelOpens in new window ]
Shattered glass, bricks and debris were left behind following a riot outside Citywest Hotel on Tuesday night. Photograph: Sarah Burns
The woman added that she has nothing against people seeking international protection in Ireland but “they shouldn’t all just be put in one big hotel”.
“It’s a very different place since when I first moved here,” she said.
An Indian man (42), living in Saggart since 2013 with his wife and six-year-old son, said what unfolded was “quite worrying”.
“There have been lots of peaceful protests here but I am not in support of the violent protest we saw last night. That cannot be accepted. Gardaí are simply doing their job,” he said.
“To be honest, I am more worried about the IPAS centre, especially when you have children and they want to be out playing on the road. I am not against immigration, but I came here legally.”
Another Indian man (40) living in Saggart for the last three years with his wife and their nine-year-old son said the rise in violent protests was “concerning”. The couple both work as healthcare assistants in a hospital.
[ The Citywest riot: 20 photographs capturing the violence in SaggartOpens in new window ]
“I think everyone has a right to protest but they are destroying their own country, their own home. The people who did this don’t have a proper understanding of what a protest is,” he said.
“I don’t think the centre should be here, it should be in a proper location. They need to listen to the people.”
The man added that he was coming home from work on the Luas on Tuesday evening and had racial abuse hurled at him.
“It was very bad the stuff they were saying, I wouldn’t like to repeat it,” he said. “We have come from another country and are doing our best to help the health service here.”