Twenty-three people were arrested after an hours-long standoff with Irish police, whose members were directly struck with fireworks, stones and other debris on a third consecutive night of disorder in Dublin.
Two members of the Irish police service, An Garda Síochána, were taken to hospital with injuries sustained during clashes with protesters. One garda was struck on the head by a bottle while the other sustained a shoulder injury.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the entrance of a hotel housing asylum seekers in an area west of the capital.
It is the third night of demonstrations at the Citywest hotel after an alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
A 26-year-old man, who cannot be named due to rules that apply to all sexual assault cases in the Republic of Ireland, appeared in court on Tuesday charged over the alleged incident.
Arrests were made amid the serious disorder on Tuesday night and the police pledged a “robust response” if violence continued.
The justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said “many have been arrested” on Wednesday and “more will follow”.
He said gardaí had responded professionally to “thuggish violence” in the area and those arrested would be “charged, named and dealt with relentlessly” by the criminal justice system.
Between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters again faced off with about 40 uniformed officers. They were replaced with the public order unit, whose members carried plastic shields and additional body protection, after officers in the original cordon were struck with debris, stones and fireworks.
Some protesters continued to throw masonry, flares, glass bottles and wooden planks at officers. There was also vandalism to the area around the Saggart Luas tram stop, which runs parallel to the road the protesters were on.
Public order gardaí pushed the crowd further from the hotel by advancing on them with shields. At least one garda was affected by pepper spray. While large parts of the crowd dispersed throughout the night, police deployed an additional public order unit behind those remaining at the protest shortly after 10pm.
Several of those caught between the two units were tackled and detained as they tried to flee.
While Monday night’s demonstration passed without significant incident, a female garda member was injured during Tuesday’s violence. She has since been discharged from hospital after receiving treatment for a foot injury. A garda vehicle was also set on fire during the unrest this week.
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The garda commissioner, Justin Kelly, who visited the scene in the aftermath of the violence, told reporters on Wednesday he was “determined” further people would be “brought before the courts to face justice”.
He said the disorder was not a peaceful protest and added: “This was violence with the intent to damage the Citywest building and intimidate those within.”
The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, condemned the scenes of violence and said there could be “no justification” for attacks on gardaí.
Protesters were displaying Irish flags, chanting anti-immigration slogans and throwing missiles.
There were also attempts to charge the garda line with horse-drawn carts and scrambler bikes on Tuesday and a police helicopter overhead was targeted with lasers.