Riot damage in Dublin to cost ‘tens of millions’

DAMAGE done to public infrastructure in Dublin could cost in the tens of millions of euros, Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said, as he urged shoppers to go into the city centre.

Politicians strongly criticised the violent scenes in Dublin that saw Garda cars, buses and trams set alight and shops looted and damaged. The clean-up is continuing on Dublin’s thoroughfare O’Connell Street, with burned-out Luas tram carriages lifted off the track by cranes and broken glass and missiles swept away.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said an estimated 500 people were involved in the disorder and said it was important to back the police force amid riotous scenes. Some 13 shops had been significantly damaged or subjected to looting and 11 Garda cars were damaged. Some Garda members were injured as 400 officers responded to the unrest.

More than 30 people were scheduled to appear before the courts on Friday, charged with offences relating to the misuse of drugs, theft and public order.

Asked about the level of damage at a meeting of the British-Irish Council at Dublin Castle, Mr Varadkar said: “We don’t have a figure on it yet, but it’s likely to be in the tens of millions, rather than the millions.”

He said there was a discussion with the Garda Commissioner on Thursday evening on whether to involve the Defence Forces as scenes unfolded, but it was deemed that it “wasn’t warranted”.

He added: “Our advice is that it is safe to come into the city. The riots that occurred last night only occurred in a relatively small part of it, thankfully, and were contained

within hours.” The violence in the Irish capital flared after a knife attack on three schoolchildren and a care assistant outside a school in the north inner city at about lunchtime on Thursday.

A five-year-old girl is in a critical condition in hospital while the female care assistant, in her 30s, is in a serious condition. The two other children, a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, suffered less serious injuries. That girl remains in hospital but the boy has been discharged.

Gardai said a man who sustained serious injuries at the scene is a person of interest in their investigation.

Brian Lawless Debris is cleared from a burned out Luas and bus on O’Connell Street in Dublin, in the aftermath of violent scenes in the city centre on Thursday evening. The unrest came after an attack on Parnell Square East where five people were injured