Irish Anti-Immigration Protesters Arrested After Clashes With Police

Fifteen people were charged in Dublin late Monday night after violent clashes with police broke out at an anti-immigration protest in a northern suburb of the city. 

Over 200 members of the police force were deployed to a site in Coolock where protesters had gathered outside an empty paint factory. The situation escalated when rocks, fireworks and other missiles were fired at police.

A number of fires were lit and official police vehicles damaged, the police force said in a statement. The fifteen people appeared before a special criminal court sitting in Dublin last night, according to a statement from the police force, which added it had seen attacks on police, criminal damage and offenses of serious public disorder.

The protest took place outside a building reported to be earmarked for accommodation for asylum seekers. Protests have occurred at several similar sites across the country, including some suspected arson attacks on hotels.

It’s an indication of just how much anti-immigration sentiment has increased in Ireland. That partly mimics trends seen across Europe, although it was previously not widely seen in the small nation which is experiencing its largest ever surge in immigration. 

The rise of far right sentiment, fueled largely by misinformation spread on online platforms, became a paramount issue for the Irish government in November last year when Dublin city center broke out into riots over the same issue.

“This is not protest,” the justice minister Helen McEntee said in a statement. “This is thuggish criminal behavior and has no place in our society.”

It is an ongoing incident, the police said.