Call to ban protests in vicinity of homes
LEO WANTS A ‘FULL GARDA REPORT’
DEMONSTRATORS should be restricted from staging protests outside people’s homes and close to where refugees are being accommodated, a Dublin city councillor has recommended.
Labour councillor
Joe Costello has called to ban protesters from such locations and for gardaí to be given powers to prevent people from staging demonstrations in certain areas to counter protests he called “raucous, angry activity”.
Addressing a meeting of Dublin City’s Joint Policing Committee yesterday, Mr Costello said such protests were “an invasion of privacy”.
Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said he was also concerned about the rise of racism and racist attacks in Ireland.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Angela Willis said the role of gardaí in policing protests was to facilitate peaceful protests, to prevent injury and to protect life.
She said gardaí in Dublin oversaw 307 protests last year with 64 to date in 2023.
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has called for a “full investigation” after a camp in Dublin housing migrants was allegedly attacked.
It has been suggested that a group of men with dogs, sticks and a baseball bat attacked the camp in a wooded area of Ashtown, west Dublin, on Saturday afternoon.
It was reported that a group of men from Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Portugal, India and Scotland had been living at the location for several months.
Speaking on Newstalk, Mr Varadkar said that it “had the feel” of a racist attack.
The Taoiseach said: “[It was] very disturbing. Obviously, I’ve heard the reports in the media. I don’t have a report from the gardaí yet, but I am going to seek one.
“I’m always reluctant to comment on something without knowing the full facts, but it has the feel and look of essentially a racist attack.
“These are people who are foreigners. People who were sleeping rough.”
The attack comes amid increasing pressure on accommodation for both Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers.
Sleep
Following the closure of the Transit Hub at Citywest last week, a number of people have been left without a place to sleep.
A spokesperson for the Department of Integration confirmed that another eight International Protection seekers who could not be accommodated arrived in Ireland over the weekend. It brings the total number to 89 since last Tuesday.
“The Department has sourced a limited number of additional beds for International Protection applicants,” they said.
“All those who had not been offered accommodation from January 24 and 27 and provided contact details were contacted.”
Elsewhere, Mr Varadkar said that the Government would have to be “careful” about the prospect of introducing “time-limited entitlements” for Ukrainian refugees and International
Protection applicants. He said that while they do not “want people to stay living in hotels or living in B&Bs or living in direct provision when they could potentially move on and get employment and rent”, the Government also cannot “push people into homelessness”.
The proposal is expected to be discussed at the Cabinet sub-committee meeting on Ukraine this evening.
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, meanwhile, said that his Department has provided 5,000-bed spaces in refurbished properties and that there is a “good pipeline of others coming on stream”.