False information about migrants mistreating women and children driving protests, says senior Garda

False information regarding the mistreatment of women and children by migrants is driving anti-immigrant protests in Dublin, a senior Garda has briefed politicians.

Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis stated that widespread use of social media and video streaming is “complicating” the policing of these protests which, according to the latest statistics, have increased by more than 100 per cent this year.

The brief comes following several days of anti-immigrant protests in Ballybrack, south Dublin this week which saw proposed accommodation intended for housing asylum seekers vandalised.

Anti-immigration protests are being policed under what Garda management has termed “Operation Carageen”. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has previously characterised the Garda approach to anti-immigration protests as attempting to avoid escalating tensions. Anyone in breaking the law still faces arrest at a later date, he warned.

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In a briefing for members of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee, seen by The Irish Times, Ms Willis said there had been “a significant increase in volume and frequency of protests”.

Policing anti-immigrant protests is a “challenge”, she said. Gardaí have policed 316 protests in the Dublin Metropolitan Region in the first six months of 2023, a 102 per cent increase on the same period in 2022.

The Assistant Commissioner said the increase in protests in Dublin is mainly down to “what may be broadly categorised as ‘anti-migration’ protests”.

These include protests against asylum seekers as well as institutions and individuals who support them.

There has also been an increase in counter-protests “by those supporting migration and diversity within the State,” she said.

“A principal motivating factor driving the ‘anti-migration’ protests concerns the false information/misinformation regarding migrants, including their access to housing, employment and their alleged mistreatment of women and children,” said the senior garda, who is responsible for the Dublin region.

The report is scheduled to be discussed by Ms Willis and Dublin city councillors on Monday

She also stated the “widespread use of social media and live-streaming of protests is a further contributing factor to the increase and complexities of the protests, particularly from a policing perspective”.

Live-streaming of protests, often by right-wing activists describing themselves as “citizen journalists”, has been a feature of many recent demonstrations. One of the most prominent streamers is Philip Dwyer, a former member of a far-right National Party who is currently facing a District Court charge of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour at a Dublin creche where he allegedly filmed himself confronting staff about a rainbow-coloured poster.

Mr Dwyer was at this week’s protests in Ballybrack where groups were demonstrating against the housing of asylum seekers in the area. Ridge Hall, a premises demonstrators believed to be earmarked for asylum seekers, was vandalised by a masked group on Tuesday night. No arrests have been made and gardaí say investigations are ongoing.

The protests continued until Thursday night, resulting in temporary road closures in the village. One woman was arrested for public-order offences “following an altercation between two people,” the Garda said.

Gardaí are also investigating an incident of criminal damage after a rock was thrown through the window of the family home of local councillor Hugh Lewis in Ballybrack. Attached to the rock was a note “warning” to “stop supporting refugees”.

Mr Lewis no longer lives at the premises but his 78-year-old father was present at the time. No arrests have been made.