Gardaí move in to take control of house targeted by asylum protest
Property suffered fire attack just days ago
THE Garda Public Order Unit has been drafted in to control the site of an antiasylum seeker protest at a property which had been set on fire days previously.
The units were brought in to contain protesters at the old Trudder House site in Newtownmountkennedy in Co. Wicklow.
One person was arrested yesterday as gardaí and protesters confronted each other at the site.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, a small fire broke out at the site which is expected to house over 150 refugees in the coming days and weeks.
No arrests have been made in relation to that incident, gardaí said, but it is believed to have been an arson attack.
Protesters have been at the site since the St Patrick’s Day weekend and have repeatedly said they are non-political.
However, photos and videos of the scene were shared yesterday on social media showing gardaí securing the site.
One of the protest’s organisers, Kevin Haig, said: ‘This was a peaceful protest. Now the gardaí have arrived to enable machines and materials onto the site. This
‘This is absolutely disgraceful’
is absolutely disgraceful. The latest is the public order unit has withdrawn. Peace has fallen back on the camp again.
‘I’m guessing we’ll be seeing them tomorrow as well. It was all very strange.
‘The trucks that arrived with the plant machinery, the drivers were all wearing balaclavas or face coverings. It was all very sinister.
‘But we’ve been a peaceful protest since the start. We just can’t get our heads around it.’
The fire, at Trudder House broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning. Fire services attended the scene and extinguished the fire.
Gardaí said a technical examination of the scene has been conducted and investigations into the incident were ongoing.
A number of buildings earmarked for housing asylum seekers, as well as sites rumoured to be, have been targeted in recent times.
There have been over 20 fires at properties associated, sometimes incorrectly, with accommodating asylum seekers in 2023 and 2024.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said Ireland is responding to a humanitarian crisis and the attacks on buildings during a housing crisis is ‘extraordinarily unhelpful’. Mr Harris said yesterday: ‘I understand there’s an investigation ongoing in relation to that incident and I don’t want to say anything in the position I hold that prejudices the outcome of that.
‘But, of course, I’m very concerned to see any fire happening in any buildings or indeed any location, particularly at a time when we live in a country that already has it constraints when it comes to housing supply.
‘For anybody to take any action that will in any way further worsen that situation is extraordinarily unhelpful and in a very, very difficult and challenging time, when Ireland is responding to a humanitarian crisis.
‘I’ll let the Garda investigation run its course before I comment further on any motives.’
Gardaí confirmed they are investigating the fire incident.
A number of protesters have been staging a demonstration near the building in recent weeks, with some remaining yesterday.
The Department of Integration had been assessing the site for suitability for providing accommodation after accepting a HSE offer to use the empty building.
Regarding the fire on Friday, Mr Haig said no arrests were made at the scene despite the three men being ‘covered in mud and one of them reeking of petrol’.
He told this newspaper: ‘Apparently gardaí know one of the people involved but they are still investigating.
‘As a direct result of the fire, gardaí told us they need to protect the building which is fair enough. Road blocks were there with garda cars and now there
Protest: One of the banners at the contested site
are concrete blocks and anti ram bars put in.’
In a statement in the immediate aftermath of the fire, Mr Haig said: ‘There was an incident at River Lodge, Trudder last night when a small number of men arrived and attempted to set fire to the premises. These individuals were in no way related to the protest group and the matter is being fully investigated by the gardaí at this time.
‘For the last four weeks the protest at the site has been entirely peaceful and the protesters condemn such actions. The protestors are still pursuing legal and environmental concerns over the site and the dumping of 160 men there, particularly questioning whether IPAS [International Protection Accommodation Services] have legal ownership of the site.
‘The protesters have worked hard to keep their protest peaceful and non-political and intend to keep it that way.’
‘One of them reeking of petrol’