No appetite for compromise on either side in Coolock stand-off

A peaceful protest had been ongoing for the past three months at the former Crown Paints site, but that all changed when construction workers entered the grounds to begin work

All week the Dublin Fire Brigade risked their lives to put out the fires that were started deliberately. For every time a blaze breaks out in the disused factory someone else who really needs the service risks missing out. File picture

In Coolock, events of the past week show how the middle ground has disappeared.

Unlike previous anti-migrant protests around the country, the political class is showing no sign of taking a softly softly-approach to those draping themselves in the Tricolour on the Malahide Road.

Words like, “sheer thuggery”, and “unacceptable scenes” were used by the Taoiseach Simon Harris and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to describe the rioters.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the protestors are no longer using terms like, “no resources” “unemployment” and “overstretched services” and are instead openly using terms like “sex offenders” and “rapists” to describe people who seeking international protection in north Dublin. The rhetoric has become more extreme.  

The middle ground has vanished and — despite talk from Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald about "community engagement" — it is hard to see how any compromise can be reached.

Even the protesters are divided. On Wednesday night they fought among themselves over who was “protecting the community more”.

A peaceful protest had been ongoing for the past three months at the former Crown Paints site. But on Monday that all changed when construction workers entered the grounds to begin work.

A JCB and mattresses were set on fire and all hell broke loose, 32 people have been arrested by Gardaí since Monday, 22 people have since been charged and are now before the courts in relation to the incidents.

The gardaí were called “f****ing scum” and “traitors” while young men in balaclavas hurled missiles at them.

A march to Coolock Garda Station on Friday began as peaceful and the organisers said over megaphones “rioters will be isolated” and to “back away” from them if they decided to cause problems.

But within minutes of returning to their starting point, the former Crown Paints building was on fire for a second time.

Another night of riots ensued, people ran screaming from the gardaí while three men draped the Irish flag around them and knelt on the roads. The standoff lasted four hours.

Councillors encouraged the crowd to “keep up their fight” because what was happening to them was "disgraceful". One went as far as quoting a scene from Mel Gibson’s film Braveheart when he shouted, “They will never take our freedom”.

It is important to note, that not all of Coolock and surrounding areas support the protests, some have made their feelings clear online stating “this is not Coolock, these people are dole heads, who have nothing to do only cause problems”.

A large Irish flag is waved by the crowd of anti immigration protesters at the former Crown Paints site in Coolock. Picture: RollingNews.ie

All week the Dublin Fire Brigade risked their lives to put out the fires that were started deliberately. For every time a blaze breaks out in the disused factory someone else who really needs the service risks missing out.

On Sunday night, a fire was lit for the fourth time.

Three gardaí have been injured, one member was hit with a rock on the forehead and had to be taken to hospital. The Garda Representative Association has hit out a management for not giving their members proper equipment. While gardaí are trying to engage with the local community — that has been clear all week — some agitators simply don’t want to know.

Another fire was started on Saturday, and again the streets were lit up with more emergency services, more road closures and more shops closing early.

The drain on local businesses, the emergency services and the delays to motorists returning from work is going largely unreported.

No signs of agreement 

In Coolock, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how any sort of agreement can be reached.

I have been up at the former Crown Paints site, every night from Monday to Saturday talking to local people and gardaí at the scene as well as spokespeople for various departments for government.

At times, it has been almost a carnival atmosphere — a family day out for some people. There were women with prams, young families with their children as well as some elderly people. There is also a strong and constant smell of hash in the air.

That scene can be hard to marry with the fact that these people are out protesting against some of the most vulnerable people in the world who have been given a safe place to lay their heads for the night.

I do not see any appetite for compromise on any side.

Speaking to the some of the people in Coolock, I’ve been shocked not just at the level of anger but at the willingness of people to condone this degree of violence.

I saw people cheering as fires broke out over four times during the week — all deliberately started. Others even climbed a wall to film the blaze.

I saw family members look on in pride as their teenage relatives threw bricks, glass bottles, and fireworks at gardaí.

Many of these protesters will not be satisfied with anything less than zero asylum seekers moving into the former Crown Paints building.

Whatever mental barrier had existed against attacking police or property, has been severed over the last week, often inspired by a constant stream of social media accounts framing the activity there as brave community, standing up for its rights.

And The disgusting scenes of emergency services being attacked have allowed the Government to take a tougher, more uncompromising stance. Both sides appear to have hardened their positions and are thus moving further, and further apart.

Having covered these protests from November 2022 in East Wall, I believe we are entering into a new and dangerous phase, where the state is going to get tougher, and the agitators will get more violent.