LOCALS IN SAGGART have told The Journal that they were “scared” and “shocked” by the violence that occurred in the area last night. 

Rioting started after people gathered to protest against an IPAS accommodation centre in the Citywest hotel at around 7pm last night.

Gardaí have said that the violence that hijacked the initial protest – which was only peaceful for a very short period of time – was preemptively organised online by various factions.

A garda van was set alight and missiles were fired at gardaí shortly after 7.30pm.

The Scene Commander Chief Superintendent Michael McNulty said that groups were intent on stirring up “hatred and violence” and on encouraging others to “get involved”. 

Since then, five adult males have been arrested and charged in relation to the serious public order incident, while one woman was arrested and released without charge.

Today, the scenes were condemned by various ministers and gardaí and Saggart was reeling for the aftermath.

The riot only came under control around by 11pm, when public order unit gardaí and those from the mounted unit pushed protestors away from the hotel entrance. 

The metal gates on the boundary of the hotel’s grounds were ripped away when The Journal visited the scene, and bricks and broken glass were strewn along nearby footpaths and inside the hotel’s grounds, where they were launched by rioters. 

The entrance of the City West hotel, where the sign has been ripped away from the wall.

Gardaí towed away a burned out garda van further down the road this morning, and simultaneously, personnel carried out a technical examination of the scene. 

The sign at the entrance of the hotel was mostly ripped off the walls at the entrance. 

Occasionally, concerned locals stopped to chat to gardaí about the violence, which included frontline garda being pelted with bricks and bottles, and ultimately saw one female garda sustain a foot injury. 

One man, Thomas, said he lives nearby and couldn’t get home because of the crowds. He explained that he went out initially to peacefully protest himself but left as soon as objects started being hurled at gardaí.

Bricks and bottles that were hurled at gardaí by rioters were left strewn at the scene.

“It’s not a way for people to express their concerns; look at the absolute state of this place this morning, it’s a disgrace. People came who are not from here,” he said.

Another concerned man said he was at home watching the protest online, and only went outside briefly to assess the scale of the crowds.

“It’s shocking to have that happen on your doorstep. I am worried that it will happen again tonight, but think the Garda presence will be strong/ My daughter is training to be a Garda and what I saw last night has made me concerned about the levels of violence they are facing on the front line – it was horrific,” he said. 

A resident of the centre at Citywest, who has lived there for three months and is going through the asylum application process, said that people living there are feeling “very scared” after the violence of last night.

“There was a large Garda presence and that kept people safe. I know a lot of the people outside were not from Saggart village – and I haven’t seen something like this before. We hope it does not happen again,” he said.

South Dublin People Before Profit Councillor Darragh Adelaide, who is on the area committee that covers Saggart, said that people involved in community groups that work with people living in Citywest have had to cancel events in the wake of last night’s disorder. 

“They are worried that people could be victimised on their way home from a workshop, or an event could be targeted,” he explained. 

He also said he’s heard from constituents who are “very concerned” about the girl who was allegedly attacked near the scene this week.

The man, who cannot be identified because the case involves a child, was charged with an alleged sexual assault yesterday and was further remanded in court today.

“People are contacting me because they are concerned that people saw that very worrying case as an opportunity to commit acts of violence,” Adelaide said. 

The councillor further added that groups, who organised online and come from outside Saggart, have used the case to “tar the residents of the centre there with the same brush”. 

“Violence against women and the sexual abuse of children are pressing issues and we need a movement to address them, but we aren’t seeing a riot every time an incident like this takes place,” he said.

Amanda, another local woman and a mother of two from Saggart, said she went to take part in a peaceful protest last night but left at the point when it escalated to a riot.

She said that, in her view, there have been local concerns about anti-social behaviour in the area.

“I am married to an African man from Nigeria, who has been living in this country for over 20 years, and we have lived locally here for fourteen years,” she said.

She said that she does not condone the violence that occurred last night and that she feels sorry for gardaí, but that she feels it is ultimately the Government’s fault for not listening to people’s concerns.