Dublin violence 'shocking but predictable', says far right expert
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The violent riots in Dublin on Thursday were “shocking but predictable” to those paying attention to the far-right movement in Ireland, an expert in the field of disinformation and extremism has said.
Aoife Gallagher, senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said that after the news broke on Thursday afternoon of the violent stabbing of young children and one of their carers outside a school in Dublin city centre, there was a “clear effort to mobilise people”.
An estimated 500 people were involved in the disorder, including a large number who jumped on the bandwagon, destroying multiple vehicles, looting and damaging shops.
The clean-up was continuing on Dublin's O'Connell St today, with burned-out vehicles lifted away, while broken glass and missiles were cleared.
Yesterday, tense scenes had begun to develop at the Garda cordon at the scene of the attack, before spilling over into rioting. In the immediate aftermath of the stabbings, posts on X, formerly Twitter, and on messaging apps such as Telegram were spreading rumours that a foreign national had attacked children.
Messages on these apps encouraged people to mobilise in the city centre and take action.
“This movement has been a tinderbox,” Ms Gallagher said. “The East Wall protests happened and there was an increased effort among the far right to root into communities. There have been multiple arson attacks like the ones in Inishowen and Ballybrack; violence on Sandwith St; and then the gallows in front of Leinster House two months ago.
“Anti-immigrant sentiment started [Thursday’s disorder]. It descended into a mob mentality. It also points to the ability of these groups to root themselves in communities to mobilise and exploit wider social issues and tap into the disaffected youth.”
On Thursday night, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris condemned the “disgraceful scenes” and said “we have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology and also this destructive tendency here to engage in serious violence”.
Speaking to the media again this morning, Mr Harris denied he had failed the country in terms of the length of time it took in responding to the mob and restoring order to the streets, as events played out across the capital over several hours.
“More and more resources were arriving throughout the evening but you could not have anticipated that in response to the terrible crime, the stabbing of school children and their teacher, that this would be their response,” he said.
“In effect, those filled with hate, and hate directed towards gardaí that they would attempt to storm through our cordon and disrupt a crime scene and then engage in violence, looting and disorder, including a very significant criminal damage.
Ms Gallagher disagreed, and said that anyone paying attention to far-right movements could have anticipated trouble in the wake of the Parnell Square stabbings.
“They are really good at seizing on tragedies for their own agenda,” she said. “Filling them with rumours and speculation even when nothing is confirmed.
“And it points to a massive failure in the Garda approach to these movements. It’s a serious failure when it comes to their intelligence-led policing.”
In the far-right spaces online where individuals gather, Ms Gallagher added they have been “galvanised” by Thursday’s events.
“They think they’re entirely right in their reaction to this,” she said. “This could be the start, if you can even call it the start, given their actions over the last number of years. I wouldn’t see it stopping soon.”