Dublin riots expose rising anti-immigration sentiment

An outbreak of violence in Dublin, on a level not seen in decades, has “brought shame on Ireland” declared Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today, as the capital was left reeling after a stabbing at a school yesterday led to a riotous mob descending on the city centre.

The first violent incident was the catalyst for the second. In a knife attack outside a children’s school on Parnell Square five people were injured, two of whom are still in hospital in a critical condition: a five-year-old girl and a school care assistant who “used her body as a shield” in an attempt to protect other children from the attacker. The suspect was also injured and remains under police guard in hospital.

Yesterday afternoon, reports surfaced about the stabbing, including unsubstantiated claims which spread on social media about the attacker being a foreign national, some of which also claimed he was an asylum seeker. 

Within hours, protestors descended on the crime scene, protests turned violent and soon rioters had taken over a large area of Dublin City centre. 

Varadkar estimates around 500 were involved in the riot, at least 34 of whom have since been arrested. 

The PM says the bill for last night’s disorder is likely to be in the “tens of millions” of euros after shops were looted and police cars and buses were set ablaze. 

According to the police – a number of whom were injured during clashes with rioters – the protests were driven by a far-right element, chanting anti-immigrant slogans, some of whom launched a petrol bomb attack on a refugee centre last night. 

Police also confirmed that the man suspected of carrying out the attack is an Irish citizen who has lived in the country for 20 years and it does not, at this time, believe the attack to be a “terror-related”.

In fact, so far, the only confirmed foreign national directly involved in the stabbing incident was the hero of the hour, a migrant from Brazil who clobbered the attacker. 

Speaking to Irish outlet The Journal, Caio Benicio, a 43-year-old Deliveroo driver, said he was driving past the school on his bike when he saw a young girl being attacked by a man with a knife. He got off his bike and ran over, striking the knifeman with his helmet. “I didn’t even make a decision, it was pure instinct, and it was all over in seconds. He fell to the ground,” said Benicio.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin has praised the driver – who arrived in Ireland a year ago – saying that his part in the horrific incident “should not be forgotten”.

Vardkar, meanwhile, has insisted both the stabbings and the riot were “exceptional events” and that Ireland would be a “vastly inferior” place without immigration.

Nonetheless, the riots draw attention to a recent growth in anti-immigration sentiment in the country. 

While Ireland is a major immigrant-producing nation – today, nearly 70 million people around the world claim Irish ancestry – it has, for much of its history, had a fairly ethnically homogeneous society.

Yet, in recent years, the country’s population of 5.3 million has changed significantly. Net migration last year increased to over 61,000, compared to levels of just over 11,000 in 2021. Polling suggests widespread public unease.

Ireland’s deep housing crisis has also fuelled a backlash against refugees and asylum seekers. This was exacerbated last year by the arrival of almost 100,000 Ukrainian refugees – among the highest per capita in Europe.

There were 307 anti-migrant demos in 2022, and 169 between January and August this year, according to the Garda Síochána, Ireland’s police force, which labelled these figures an “exponential increase”.

Such protests have often resulted in larger counter-demonstrations and Ireland’s far-right remains a minority, on the fringes of politics. Indeed, there are no far-right parties or politicians elected to parliament.

But, as the Netherlands’ unprecedented election results this week illustrate, a rise in immigration-sentiment could mean such parties move further into the mainstream and force established parties to adopt some of their policies

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