No ‘invisible hand’ guiding asylum accommodation arson attacks, Drew Harris says

Attacks on refugee accommodation centres are not being guided by “an invisible hand” and were likely committed by local people who chose to believe misinformation, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said.

Responding to questions about whether the far right were coordinating arson attacks, Mr Harris said there was “a rise in political extremism” in Europe and the “far right were an element of that”.

However, there was “no evidence to suggest there is a coordinated effort or an invisible hand” directing the arson attacks on refugee accommodation in the Republic this year.

While it was “easy to blame” a “nebulous” ill-defined group, the reality was the arson attacks witnessed since 2018, and which have increased this year, arose from “prejudice” and “ill-informed comment” at a local level.

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Speaking at a public meeting of the Policing Authority in Dublin on Tuesday, Mr Harris said it was likely the suspects for the fire at Ross Lake House in Co Galway at the weekend, if they were ever identified, were local people. The building was destroyed in the arson attack on Saturday night, just days before it was to be used to house asylum seekers.

Deputy Commissioner Anne Marie McMahon told the authority the Garda received “late” notice from the Government that Ross Lake House was about to be used for asylum seekers. She said the notice was received by the Garda in an “informal” way.

Those comments will likely put pressure on Government given that notifying the Garda immediately that a building is to be used for refugee accommodation would allow for a risk assessment. That could also result in a pre-emptive Garda presence on site to deter arsonists or others with malign motives.

Policing Authority chairman Bob Collins said the failure to include the Garda earlier in the information sharing process was “inappropriate”.

It also emerged at the Policing Authority meeting that Public Order Unit, or riot squad, gardaí on duty during Dublin’s riots on November 23rd last were not linked to Garda communication systems.

That meant they could not take orders or directions over the Garda radio system because ear pieces could not be used in the protect helmets they wore.

[ Gardaí believe Galway hotel fire the work of local opposed to immigration ]

[ ‘Building for a long time’: How the global far right jumped on Dublin’s anti-immigration riots ]

Concerns expressed about the unwillingness of Garda members to use force during the riots had not been borne out in research. In internal Garda research in recent weeks, only 5 per cent of the 464 gardaí on duty on the day expressed a lack of confidence about using force on the day.

Mr Harris said while the speed of the misinformation spread on the day of the riots took gardaí by surprise, no amount of intelligence and no form of intelligence could have predicted the nature of the rioting that erupted.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary, who is carrying out a review of lessons to be learned from the rioting and the Garda’s response, said shortcomings in communications on the ground was the biggest concern emerging in the review to date. One of the recommendations of the review would be the provision of earpieces compatible with riot helmets.

He added of the 186 responses received from gardaí who were involved in the policing operation on the day, only nine members made reference to a lack of confidence in using force.

On the day batons were used and Public Order Unit members used their shields to strike rioters. Pepper spray was also used and in some cases had to be resupplied to gardaí, while handcuffs, which are regarded as ‘force’ in policing, were also used.

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