Gardaí believe the security situation around a site earmarked for international protection applicants (IPAs) in north Dublin will remain tense, and that violence may flare again, especially when renewed efforts are made to move construction materials and workers into the facility.
A number of far-right agitators, including one with a significant profile, are being monitored amid suspicions they have been involved in attempts to encourage violence.
Gardaí continue to monitor the protest site in Coolock, with additional patrols of public order unit personnel being maintained in the area on Wednesday. But the large-scale Garda operation in place on Monday and Tuesday was not in evidence.
While a group of about 40-50 people remained at the former Crown Paints factory on Malahide Road, Coolock, through most of Wednesday, no significant incidents arose necessitating the extensive public order response of the previous two days.
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However, Garda sources said that after two days of violence they believed the process of converting the former paint facility into accommodation for IPAs would remain challenging. The entrance to the site, where a protesters’ camp was cleared by gardaí early on Monday, is now secure after 3m-high concrete barriers were erected.
[ Plan to house asylum seekers at Coolock site will go ahead, says O’GormanOpens in new window ]
Gardaí remain concerned about the possibility of a further arson attack at the site, following the use of petrol bombs to destroy an excavator early on Monday morning.
Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said his department’s comprehensive accommodation strategy for asylum seekers was “working and delivering in its various strands” through the provision of State-owned land and expressions of interest for large buildings that could be “repurposed”.
[ How the clashes in Coolock went from a sit-in protest to violence on the streetsOpens in new window ]
He insisted plans to house up to 500 IPAs at the former Crown Paints facility would go ahead despite the clashes that resulted in the arrests of 30 people on Monday and Tuesday.
He said his department had engaged with local elected representatives and community groups earlier this year. “I know we’ve been criticised in the past for not enough engagement – I don’t accept that in this situation. We engaged early and we provided significant information and that engagement will continue.”
The Government has also identified more than 30 other large buildings for use as accommodation for asylum seekers.
It is understood that the buildings, mostly large commercial or office units, were identified following an initial assessment of about 70 projects submitted to a call for expressions of interest to supply accommodation.
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