Irish authorities on Friday condemned a far-right, anti-immigrant faction that rapidly spread rumors about the perpetrator of a violent knife attack in Dublin and ultimately tore through the streets of Ireland’s capital Thursday night, setting cars and buses on fire and smashing storefront windows.
The country was shocked Thursday by a mid-day stabbing attack on three young children — including a five-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries — and a woman who were reportedly on their way to a daycare facility when a man assaulted them.
The Garda Síochána, Ireland’s police force, were able to take the suspect into custody after several bystanders — including a Brazilian delivery driver who immigrated to the country — overtook the man, who authorities said acted on his own.
But the “appalling crime,” as Minister for Justice Helen McEntee called the stabbing, soon gave way to chaos at the crime scene when far-right protesters arrived and began chanting anti-immigrant slogans.
One protester told Agence France Presse that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum,” even as the press reported that the suspected perpetrator was a naturalized Irish citizen who has lived in Ireland for 20 years.
The cost-of-living crisis in Ireland has fueled recent anti-immigrant protests and acts of violence, with a group of men violently attacking an encampment inhabited by migrants from several countries earlier this year. Such incidents have also led thousands of Irish people to march this year in support of the immigrant community.
The Brazil-born delivery driver, identified by The Irish Times as Ciao Benicio, told the paper that the far-right faction’s decision to seize on the knife attack as evidence of a dangerous immigration crisis did not “make sense at all.”
“I’m an immigrant myself and I was the one who helped out,” said Benicio.
The city’s public transit system was badly hit by the ensuing riots, with protesters setting trams and double-decker buses ablaze. They also smashed store windows on O’Connell Street, a major thoroughfare.
“This appalling incident is a matter for the Gardaí and that it would be used or abused by groups with an agenda that attacks the principle of social inclusion is reprehensible and deserves condemnation by all those who believe in the rule of law and democracy,” said Irish President Michael Higgins in a statement.
Police commissioner Drew Harris said the riots were driven by misinformation that was spread for “malevolent purposes.”
Mary Lou McDonald, president of the left-wing opposition party Sinn Féin, said the city of Dublin was “traumatized twice: by the barbaric attack… and then by marauding racist mobs.”
Thirty-four rioters were arrested Thursday evening, and Prime Minister Leo Varadkar addressed the country’s immigrant community by saying Ireland would be “vastly inferior” without immigration.
The demonstrators did not wreak havoc across the city “out of any sense of patriotism, however warped,” said Varadkar, “they did so because they are filled with hate.”
One critic of the riots noted that anti-immigrant sentiment has been egged on in recent years not only by politicians like Hermann Kelly, head of the far-right Irish Freedom Party, but also by liberal policymakers like British Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer.
Starmer said in a Sky News interview Thursday that migration levels in the U.K. are “shockingly high.”
“We saw last night in Dublin,” said agriculture researcher Alex Heffron, “a consequence of politicians spending years demonizing immigrants.”
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy