Gardaí assess risk from planned 'anti-refugee' protests

Ballymun asylum protest

Gardaí are conducting risk assessments for what threatens to be an escalation in 'anti-refugee' agitation on Thursday with protests planned across Dublin.

Gardaí are tracking the activities of individuals and groups who might be seeking to exploit or direct local protests for their own ends.

In a video interview circulating online, prominent anti-immigrant campaigner and solicitor Malachy Steenson announced protests throughout Dublin this Thursday.

“We will have protests across the city, among all the groups — in East Wall, Ballymun, Clondalkin, Crumlin, Kimmage, Islandbridge, Baldoyle — right through the city, where people have had these facilities imposed on them,” he said.

He said other protests may be announced closer to Thursday.

A spokesperson for Garda HQ said: “We are aware and monitoring activities of certain groups online and we are aware of suggestions of what might be happening on Thursday.” 

The spokesperson said they would not comment any further.

Garda management is conscious of the political reaction to events, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying he was disturbed by the scenes at Ballymun.

“I don't think that there's any excuse for racism of any form," he said. "And I just don't think there's any excuse for hatred being directed at anyone because of their nationality or their racial background or any other reason.” 

During Sunday's protest in Ballymun, in which Mr Steenson was seen adopting a leading role, he said in a livestream broadcast with far-right commentator Philip Dwyer that they were liaising with protest groups around the country to build “a national movement”.

He said that “in due course, there will be a national protest”, before adding: “We will be bringing the country to a standstill”.

Mr Steenson said there had been protests in East Wall, Drogheda — where Mr Steenson spoke alongside the far-right Irish Freedom Party and its leader Hermann Kelly — and Killarney in the last week.

Ballymun had three consecutive days of protest since Saturday, with just a small group of around 50 on Monday, where two locations housing asylum seekers were targeted.

The largest crowd, numbering several hundred, was on Sunday evening, though Mr Steenson has claimed up to 2,000 people were there.

As in other protests, such as those in Drimnagh, a good portion of those attending were children and young teenagers.

Senior officers in the Dublin divisions and in the assistant commissioner’s office are conducting risk assessments for Thursday and co-ordinating policing plans.

“The Assistant Commissioner [Angela Willis] is very hands on, that’s her style, and she, and the people she has there, will be on top of this,” one source said.

Sources said her staff will assess the risk and make sure that risk is managed. 

Public order units

Consideration may be given to putting public order units, which are a regional resource under her command, on standby, but only if the risk assessment deems it necessary.

The AC’s office has channels of communication with Security and Intelligence in Garda HQ, which would provide any intelligence on individuals or far-right groups that might pose a risk.

Garda sources point out that there has been no violence reported at the protests in Dublin to date.