Police detain a man after a riot in the aftermath of a school stabbing that left several children and adults injured on O'Connell Street, in Dublin, Ireland. Reuters

Soon, a small group of anti-immigrant protesters appeared on the scene, and then followed rioting where the police believe a far-right anti-immigrant group went on a rampage, burning buses, a tram, and looting shops. It took the police a few hours before the situation could be brought under control. The police have not yet disclosed the identity of the assailant who is believed to be a non-Irish person and in his mid-40s.

Some of the protesters were raging against the immigrants using racist language. There has been discontent over giving housing permits to immigrants in the city, and this was used by the protesters to create mayhem. The police say they do not rule out any motive including terrorism, but they are yet to ascertain facts about the assailant. The protesters shouted ‘get them out’ in a pointer towards immigrants.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar addressing a news conference strongly condemned the violence, and said, “Those involved brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves. As a country we need to reclaim Ireland. We need to take it away from the cowerers who hide behind masks and try to terrify us with their violence.” The rioting was condemned by all political parties, including the opposition Sinn Fein.

Police Commissioner Drew Harris said the violence was unprecedented and said that the expression of hatred was something new. Harris commented: “I think we’ve seen an element of radicalisation. We have seen a group of people who take literally a thimble full of facts and make a bathtub of hateful assumptions and then conduct themselves in a way which is riotous and disruptive to our society.”

The concern of public authorities and of political leaders over the anti-immigrant sentiments coming from the far-right groups is understandable because it is something that is discernible all over Europe, especially the European Union (EU) countries, and Ireland is a member of the EU and closely connected to the continent.  The EU officially has an open door policy for immigrants and asylum-seekers, and the right-wing parties have been opposed to this. There is no representation of a far-right party in Irish parliament, but the violence on Thursday night in Dublin shows that there is a far-right group in existence which could unleash violence.

The residents of Dublin have differing points of view as reported in The Irish Times. A young Dublin-born mother says, “I don’t know one person who doesn’t condemn everything that happened. It is going to be such a stain on us. I think we need to make an extra effort to make people safe and welcome.”

Alan Maher, 46, a Dubliner, says that the violence was justified because “It’s to do with a lot things. It’s immigration, undocumented people, homelessness, the whole lot. We don’t want this in our country. People are protesting and not being listened to and everything is come to a boiling point.”

A Mexican immigrant, Alex Valencia, 32, who has been living in Dublin for four years, says, “This (violence) happens as well in Mexico but here, it’s the first time for me. This is a beautiful country. It has been so welcoming for me. Then this. It’s scary, you know.”

The simmering anger over immigration is also because of the general economic gloom and the government’s inability to do anything effective to soothe the anxieties of the people.