Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Vehicles set on fire in the city centre Sam Boal via RollingNews.ie
your stories
'Fear like never before': 21 readers on how the Dublin riots affected them
Rioting and looting spread like wildfire across town as gardaí tried to get crowds under control.
9.01pm, 28 Nov 2023
37.5k
AFTER PUBLIC DISORDER erupted in Dublin’s city centre last Thursday, few people were left unaffected.
Rioting and looting spread like wildfire across town as gardaí tried to get crowds under control.
Several vehicles were set alight, including a Dublin bus and a Luas tram, halting all public transport in and out of the city centre and leaving many people stranded.
Since Thursday, 48 people have been arrested and more than 30 have been called before the courts.
We asked readers to get in touch with their experiences of the chaos and the feelings they harbour in the aftermath.
A car burning on Parnell Street RollingNews.ie
RollingNews.ie
Vulnerable people
Joseph, who is visually impaired, was walking from Gardiner Street Lower on Thursday evening to get to the LUAS.
“Just as I arrived on Parnell Street, the smell of smoke, rubbish, flames of fire, bangers, bins, chairs, bottles, you name it, in every direction.
“I was left struggling and shaken so badly knowing there was a war around me.”
“I was so confused and nervous what to do or what way to go … thuggery, [people] saying ‘What you looking at?’, ‘I’ll give you a kick in the face’.
“I thought I was for dead.”
Several elderly people also expressed fear about travelling alone in town now.
Johnny Gordon, who is 86-years-old, said: “I’m afraid to walk from the Mater Hospital to Parnell Luas from medical appointments due to regular reported presence of gurriers.”
‘The first time I’ve ever been ashamed of our homeland’
Dave moved to Vancouver in 2018, but says he’s always been proud to call Ireland home.
“Waking up last Friday reading the carnage that happened in Dublin was the first time I’ve ever been ashamed of our homeland.
“From the west, I lived in Dublin for 10 years before leaving and I cannot imagine that such a multicultural, welcoming city has resulted to this.
“There is not a single family in the country that hasn’t had a loved one emigrate at one point or another. We as Irish people are not allowed to be anti-immigration/racist.
“The looting and other carnage just shows a complete and utter lack of respect for fellow man.”
Riot squad trying to fend off disruptors Sam Boal
Sam Boal
Another reader, an Irish person who has lived abroad for five years, was hoping to move home next year to be nearer family.
“Seeing the disgusting behaviour and, more deep-rooted, the anti-immigration rhetoric coming from people, it has changed my decision.
“Irish people are spread out worldwide and have been accepted on almost every border and shoreline we have approached. To think this beautiful, friendly country is turning on foreign nationals is so saddening and disappointed.
“I will remain living abroad until Ireland sorts its attitude out.”
Anthony, a Dubliner living in Finland, said he felt “sick to [his] stomach” hearing what happened on the city’s streets.
“I’ve always been proud to be Irish but I was utterly ashamed last weekend after the riots.
Advertisement
“My friend is a bus driver and was working in the city that night and he was very worried about his safety.”
‘This is my favourite time of year in the city I live in, and I haven’t set foot in it since’
Many readers who had plans to visit the city over the Christmas period have since changed their minds.
One parent of a 21-year-old and a 16-year-old says they no longer want their children in the city centre.”We will be staying local for meals out, whereas used to go into town at Christmas time.”
Another parent said: “It’s utterly heartbreaking our city has come to this.
“We were so excited to bring our five-month-old baby to town so he could look at the lights and do Christmas shopping, but now I wouldn’t dream of it.”
One reader said the actions of the rioters won’t deter him from enjoying the festive season in the capital.
“The riot was shocking but it isn’t going to put me off travelling. I love Dublin and I know it is full of lovely trusting people who were equally horrified by the actions of a few thugs.”
Another reader said the events “laid bare that we have a serious problem with far-right rhetoric in this country”.
“I had initially planned to visit Dublin over Christmas in order to meet people that I had not seen in a while, but we have since made other arrangements as we don’t want to risk something happening were we to be there.”
One renter who has lived all over Dublin said the riots have tainted a special time of year.
“I have rented in various places in Dublin for many years and I have overall loved it really; the buzz of the ‘Big Smoke’, the new friends, the career experiences, the all-year-round sport, the warm pubs, the local independent shops tucked in among the nice big trendy brands.
“I have particularly loved Dublin each year when the leaves change colour and the excitement of the Christmas build up in the city begins.
“Pausing on a walk through town to watch the unsung heroes hang up the Christmas lights, in happy anticipation of who would turn them on; organised folks gathering and scrambling for the perfect gifts for loved ones before the December shopping madness begins; the buskers on Grafton Street and every other street too.
“How have the riots affected me? This is my favourite time of year in the city I live in, and I haven’t set foot in it since.”
‘Fear like never before’
One reader wrote of their five-year-old son, who attends creche around the corner from where the stabbing incident occurred. The traffic meant it took two hours for her to get to him due to the traffic.
“People who come to the city either to work to live or just to visit are not the enemy of our children – those who trashed my city, scared my children and myself and the other residents … are the enemy.
“What they did does not speak for me or my children and never will.”
Mother-of-two Agata said she feels “fear like never before”.
“People are becoming more and more aggressive every year. That’s what it seems. Dublin city centre is not safe at all.
“My son is 12 and he is scared to go by bus by himself to school as his classmates told him what happened in the city on Thursday. I was hoping he still wasn’t able to find out as he doesn’t have internet access to use by himself.
“Now I am travelling everywhere with him through town. It’s time-consuming as I am a busy working mom. I fear for safety of my children in the city.”
Another mother, Angela, told of her 18-year-old son who was staying late at college in town to work on a project.
“He was shocked and appalled when he saw the fires and looting. At 18, he couldn’t understand how burning buses and Luas trams can help in any way.
“We were in constant contact with him and he got home to Navan safely.
“He is as saddened as are we, that the actions of one man could spur the actions of groups of people.”
Two young girls eat ice-creams as Garda Press Office Superintendent Liam Geraghty speaks to media Sasko Lazarov
Sasko Lazarov
A father told us he was due to meet his 14-year-old son to go to the cinema on the evening of the riots.
Read Next
Related Reads
Tánaiste says McEntee will have full backing of all Fianna Fáil TDs if no confidence vote called
Increased garda presence planned for Dublin city centre 'up to and beyond Christmas'
Simon Harris says 'ability to spread disinformation' on social media is 'very serious issue'
“Not a hope of that, I won’t be taking any chances now.
“I commute into the city for work but won’t be staying on after work any more. Once it gets dark it’s not safe to be around the streets.
“[There's] not enough of a Garda presence in the city to deter the troublemakers from violence. Until there is, I’ll be staying away.”
Migrant safety
One healthcare worker said his Irish-born son is aware of the hatred expressed towards migrants.
“Do we as immigrants really stand a chance for our own wellbeing and for our next generation?
“We are adults and capacity to absorb anything but one thing I couldn’t absorb was my six-year-old’s comment on a conversation between me and my spouse of why within the retail park there were less people on the weekend.
‘Dad, don’t you know people are getting stabbed and it’s against us immigrants?’
“This event has implanted this thought in a six-year-old child’s mind … I’m not sure how we as parents can do less or more in our power to protect our own children from this hatred and divide.”
Another reader who is white said their mixed-race teenage daughter was afraid to take the bus to school after the riots.
“[She] was so upset and anxious from watching the violence with racist sentiment shared on social media … Her friends at school were all equally scared.”
Filipe from Brazil says he now avoids speaking Portuguese in public spaces and is staying away from the city centre for the foreseeable.
“I know it’s sad, but it’s reality.”
A Turkish immigrant who has lived and worked in Dublin for five years said he was supposed to go for dinner with a friend on Parnell Square, but the restaurant was cut off by the garda cordon. He’s not letting Thursday’s events scare him.
“For my part, I continue to go to the city centre. A day after the riots I was at the Abbey Theatre, and had few drinks in a nearby pub.
“I understand everyone’s safety concerns but I think the worst we can do is to handover the city centre to few thugs.”
‘I could not stop crying’
On Thursday evening, Sharon (57) was attending an Abba tribute concert in the Olympia with her daughter, when the performance was paused and the doors locked for security.
“It was a terrifying and uncomfortable experience.
“I could not stop crying once home. I work in Baggot St. I have not been back into town or the office since Thursday night.
“I feel ashamed to be from Dublin.”
Tom (58), a regular commuter to Dublin from Dunboyne, also said he felt ashamed.
“I plan never to go back into Dublin again and will be advising my grown up children and wife to do likewise. I’m very saddened to come to this decision.”
One retail worker who has worked in the industry for 27 years said they’ve never seen behaviour like it.
Workers clean up the remains of a burnt Luas tram RollingNews.ie
RollingNews.ie
Patrick is from Westmeath but works on Dublin’s southside. Every evening, he cycles from his workplace to the bus stop at the quays to go home. On Thursday he had a puncture and so he walked through the riot scenes, where he saw vehicles being set on fire.
“Since the riot my wife – who is a non-national – has been reluctant to travel to Dublin, despite working there. Luckily she can work remotely easily,” he said.
“It affected her quite a bit worse than me, despite the fact that I was there when events were unfolding.
“Having spent a lot of time in Dublin and lived there most my life the events didn’t surprise me or in any way change my opinion of the city. I went by O’Connell Bridge after work the next day and the street was extremely quiet – the quietest I had seen it since Covid.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
'A good deal for everybody': US and EU reach 15% tariff deal after Trump-von der Leyen meeting
Updated
1 hr ago
37.7k
149
Animal Cruelty
Increase in animal neglect since Covid-19 means Irish shelters can only take urgent cases
20 mins ago
415
4
Croagh Patrick
8 priests respond to Reek Sunday callout as some opt for earlier climb due to All-Ireland clash
26 Jul
64.3k
37
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 214 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage . Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 149 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 195 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 158 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 119 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 120 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 51 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 48 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 177 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 78 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 111 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 116 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 51 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 65 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 36 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 122 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 126 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 94 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 67 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 116 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 103 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say