Cormac O'Keeffe: Potential for asylum protests to take a darker turn

A large crowd descended on the Travel Lodge in Ballymun, home for more than 200 men, women, and children seeking asylum

A number of protesters banged loudly and menacingly on the front doors of the Travel Lodge in Ballymun.

There was a period during the second night of protests in Ballymun where the potential for events to take a darker turn reared its head.

When what was a large crowd, numbering many hundreds, descended on the Travel Lodge — home for over 200 men, women, and children seeking asylum — a number of protesters banged loudly and menacingly on the front doors.

Crowds of people behind them shouted “out, out, out” at the residents, some of them peeping out of bedroom windows above.

Two public figures within the anti-refugee movement, Malachy Steenson, who played a role in the protest, and right-wing commentator Philip Dwyer, appealed to the crowd to back away from the entrance.

Dwyer, who was live-streaming the protest, said: “We don’t want to see this folks, we want people to keep their dignity”.

Crowds continued to shout “get them out” and “send them home”.

Mr Steenson went towards those at the door with his loudspeaker and said: “You’re only giving the cops an excuse, move back.” 

One local guy, very agitated and banging on the door, confronted Mr Steenson, saying: “Malachy, you are hijacking the protest, I’m a local man.” 

The shouting got louder and sustained. “Get them out,” they roared.

Inside the front doors, staff anxiously paced around. Things were getting very heated.

Within a few minutes, two uniformed gardaí walked up, greeted by jeers. One approached Mr Steenson, a solicitor, and requested a quiet word.

After a few moments, Mr Steenson obliged and nodded with the garda and went back and called on people to “go home” and relax, and was met by cheers and claps.

No violence

Gardaí reported no violence over the three nights of protests, Saturday to Monday, but will be preparing for Thursday as part of the city-wide protests.

Garda sources said it was no doubt “unnerving” for the asylum seekers in the Travel Lodge, with reports on RTÉ radio suggesting children inside had been scared of people breaking in.

Many of the same prominent anti-immigrant campaigners have gone around the country recently to take part in protests.

Some protests appear to be less organised than others, which has allowed some of these activists to step in and “whip up” sentiment, as one source said.

This could be seen from footage from the protests outside the school in Drimnagh at the weekend.

Both the Irish Freedom Party and the National Party have been present at most of the protests.

“You don’t want these protests being infiltrated, which is probably what’s happening, by those with violent intentions, masquerading as peaceful protesters until the moment arises,” said one garda.

Another said: “You generally get a sense when things might pick up at these protests, but, again, it can happen in a flash.” 

A third source said: “We know the main players and their links with international groups and fundraising."

Another garda said: “These groups are getting more active and are stirring things up, quite successfully in some areas, but they are still quite localised. It's wait and see as to how much control they have over the protests on Thursday."