No evidence arson attacks on refugee centres are co-ordinated by extremists

Security sources said: 'It’s copycat as opposed to co-ordinated'

Security sources echo comments made by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in which he said local people were suspected of being behind fires and other criminal damage at international protection centres, including the arson attack at Ross Lake House Hotel in Galway on Saturday. Photo: MWI

Locals setting fire to asylum seeker accommodation are engaging in “copycat” actions based on what they believe has worked elsewhere in the country, security sources suspect.

Authorities believe there is a limited effort by a small number of extreme right-wing individuals to “pull strings” in different parts of the country but that there is no evidence of “attack planning” being co-ordinated by extremists.

Security sources echo comments made by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in which he said local people were suspected of being behind fires and other criminal damage at international protection centres, including the arson attack at Ross Lake House Hotel in Galway on Saturday. 

Speaking at the Policing Authority on Tuesday, the commissioner dismissed suggestions that “nebulous” far-right groups had a “guiding hand” in them. Gardaí in Galway are continuing to investigate the fire at the home in Connemara, which the commissioner said “gutted” the building.

Mr Harris said the house was “very remote and very difficult to find” and that gardaí suspect that those who set fire to it probably lived in the local area. He said the individuals who carry out these attacks are driven by “misinformation” and “prejudice”.

Security sources back up the commissioner’s assessment and do not see a strategy or a centralised plan behind the various attacks.

“Some individuals may be inspired by what they see elsewhere,” said one source. “It’s copycat as opposed to co-ordinated.” 

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Security sources believe local individuals see what has, in their minds, “worked” elsewhere in the country—where premises suspected of being earmarked to house asylum seekers are set fire to or damaged—and do the same. Authorities have estimated that there have been around seven such attacks.

But they do not see “any clear evidence of a strategy” or any “active attack planning” by a central group or network.

Sources said that while the absence of an organised extremist group is a good thing, the downside can be that locals, numbering one or two people, are “harder to deal with”, unless some CCTV or forensic evidence becomes available.

Garda management are also frustrated by what they say is the “very late” notice they are getting from government officials about the intended use of a premises to house international protection applicants.

They say this is preventing them from conducting risk assessments and putting in place an appropriate security and policing response, pointing out they have a duty to “keep people safe”.

Dublin riots

Meanwhile, a number of investigations are continuing into the Dublin riots on November 23, which saw buses and a Luas set on fire as well as damage to 11 garda vehicles.

The Policing Authority heard 13 garda members were injured in assaults, three of whom had to be hospitalised, with one member left traumatised after a toe was severed.

A total of 58 businesses reported criminal damage.

While arrests have so far focused on robbery and criminal damage, garda investigations are continuing into those who called on people to go to the city centre and protest against immigrants, as well as those who incited violence.

Sources said a "lot more arrests", involving these people, are anticipated.