{"id":139909,"date":"2025-10-23T06:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/139909\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T06:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:16:08","slug":"major-security-plan-for-citywest-centre-after-two-gardai-injured-in-second-night-of-rioting-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/139909\/","title":{"rendered":"Major security plan for Citywest centre after two garda\u00ed injured in second night of rioting \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major policing operation to protect residents at a centre for foreign nationals in Citywest<\/a>, Dublin<\/a>, is set to remain in place in coming days amid fears the violent scenes may be repeated.<\/p>\n

Several hundred protesters gathered again at Citywest on Wednesday night, with some throwing masonry, flares, glass bottles and wooden planks at members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At least two members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na were treated in hospital for injuries. Among them was a female garda who was treated for injuries after she was hit in the face by a projectile, believed to be a bottle. The other garda injuries are believed to have included injuries to the wrist, the head and on the shoulder.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed said 23 people were detained following the disturbances.<\/p>\n

Earlier, a mounted Garda unit and a dog unit were deployed to the scene, along with the Public Order Unit and a helicopter providing air support.<\/p>\n

The Public Order Unit, or riot squad, set up a cordon at the junction at Garter Lane and Citywest Drive, near the entrance to the hotel, and garda\u00ed used pepper spray in an attempt to push back protesters to outer roads.<\/p>\n

A Garda car was set alight on Tuesday night, while items were thrown at officers outside the Citywest hotel. Videos: Ronan McGreevy, Cian O’Connell and Conor Lally <\/p>\n

The centre for international protection applicants (IPAS) houses 1,200 Ukrainians fleeing Russia\u2019s invasion of their country and 460 asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

An estimated 500 people attended the protest on the second night of large-scale demonstrations in Citywest.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed managed to push protesters to the outer roads, but a number of skirmishes broke out and stones and fireworks were thrown at garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

A major component of the policing plan is the use of riot squad personnel for street clashes, while a significant armed response was also being kept in reserve.<\/p>\n

Senior officers decided that as so many extra garda\u00ed have been trained, and equipped, for public order policing since the Dublin city riots of November 2023, there was no need to cancel any leave for Dublin-based garda\u00ed to bolster the Citywest policing plan.<\/p>\n

The Irish Times understands a number of riot ringleaders have been identified, including those who incited hatred online before the violence and those who played a dominant role on the ground during the disturbances.<\/p>\n

In a statement, garda\u00ed said that the Garda water cannon was on standby but it was not deemed necessary to deploy it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of the evening over 300 members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na were on duty, including over 150 uniform members, 120 public-order members, mounted unit and dog unit supported by members in air support unit and regional control rooms,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018The kit was brutal in 2023\u2019: How Garda handling of Citywest crowd shows progress from Dublin riotsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan, in a late night statement on Wednesday, said \u201cmany have been arrested, and more will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Callaghan said earlier that the violence resulted from \u201cthe weaponising of a crime\u201d by \u201cpeople who wish to sow dissent in our society\u201d, adding this was \u201cnot unexpected\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"GardaíGarda\u00ed block protesters near the Citywest Hotel in Saggart, after disturbances flared outside the Dublin hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA Wire Justin Kelly, Garda Commissioner, has warned against a repeat of the violent scenes that took place near Citywest in Saggart, Co Dublin. Video: Ronan McGreevy <\/p>\n

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly<\/a> said the Garda had intelligence that efforts were being made to organise a second gathering at the centre on Wednesday night, warning those intent on violence they would be met with a \u201crobust\u201d policing response.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018The kit was brutal in 2023\u2019: How Garda handling of Citywest crowd shows progress from Dublin riotsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He added the protest held on Tuesday night was not peaceful, with a horse deliberately charged at the Garda lines and a man on a scrambler motorbike trying to ram garda\u00ed who were on foot. The violence was \u201cdesigned to damage the Citywest building and intimidate\u201d the residents there and would not be tolerated.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ninety minutes of madness: How the Citywest riot exploded and then was quelledOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Garda Representative Association<\/a>, which represents more than 11,000 rank-and-file garda\u00ed, said its members had faced \u201cserious challenges\u201d during the violence. Vice-president Niall Hodgins added they had \u201ccourageously responded when called upon to protect life and property\u201d at great risk to their personal safety as they were attacked.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, rioters kicked down walls in the Melbury Oaks housing estate off Grater Lane, where the Citywest centre is located, and then broke sections of the demolished walls into single bricks, which were thrown at garda\u00ed. Industrial-sized wheelie bins filled with glass bottles were taken from nearby businesses and the bottles thrown at garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

As well as 150 public-order unit garda\u00ed on duty, some 125 uniformed members were also deployed as well as the new Garda water cannon, the Garda dog unit and the Garda helicopter. Garda\u00ed deployed pepper spray repeatedly at the rioters.<\/p>\n

Garda sources said while many of those involved concealed their identities by using scarves, hoods and balaclavas, others had been much more careless. Senior officers were confident the body-worn cameras used by some garda\u00ed present, as well as footage from CCTV systems in the area, would prove invaluable in catching those behind the violence.<\/p>\n

A Garda van was destroyed in an arson attack, and Public Order Unit garda\u00ed were attacked by rioters, who launched fireworks at them, as well as bricks and bottles. Six arrests were made and five of those people appeared before the courts yesterday. One further arrest was made on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"AA burnt out Garda van is removed from the scene on Wednesday morning after a major disturbance at Citywest Hotel on Tuesday night. Photograph: Sarah Burns <\/p>\n

The initial protest was called for Tuesday night in response to a foreign man (26) being charged with the alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old Irish girl outside the Citywest campus in the early hours of Monday. <\/p>\n

Though garda\u00ed tried to facilitate a peaceful protest, they were attacked by many in the crowd and a significant public-order policing response was deployed. The streets were largely cleared by 10pm, more than two hours after the trouble flared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major policing operation to protect residents at a centre for foreign nationals in Citywest, Dublin, is set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[956,9,10,81470,52,68560,18,13,14,61425,6,19,56707,17,26735,29801,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-139909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-citywest-hotel","12":"tag-dublin","13":"tag-dublin-riots","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-featured-news","16":"tag-featurednews","17":"tag-garda-representative-association","18":"tag-headlines","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-international-protection-accommodation-services-ipas","21":"tag-ireland","22":"tag-jim-ocallaghan","23":"tag-justin-kelly","24":"tag-latest-news","25":"tag-latestnews","26":"tag-main-news","27":"tag-mainnews","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-top-stories","30":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115422022117185861","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}