A community leader has described migrant children barricading themselves in hotels due to “urban warfare” on the streets of Dublin during the riots.
A teacher at a school in Tallaght, which neighbours Citywest Hotel, told a Sky News correspondent that there are children living in fear of going outside after another night of disorder.
The third night of demonstrations at the hotel took place on Wednesday, after an alleged sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl in the vicinity of the hotel in the early hours of Monday morning.
Between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesday, protesters again faced off with about 40 uniformed gardai, who were then replaced with the Public Order Unit.
Public order gardai pushed the crowd further from the hotel by advancing with shields, with several gardai deploying pepper spray during the disorder.
Sky News correspondent Connor Gillies said he witnessed children as young as seven throwing bricks at riot officers, who were standing in rows 5ft deep.
Teenagers dragged a baby pram filled with fireworks and lit their missiles as they threw them at officers who were charging forward in a bid to get the hundreds of locals under control.
Kevin Shortall, principal of St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght, told Sky News that there are feelings of “fear” and “shock” from people living in Citywest, which he described as a community made up predominantly of families.
He said: “My central thoughts here are very much around the students who live in City West who are scared to come to school, who are frightened about the riots and the urban warfare that’s coming on inside their doors.”
Mr Shortall said most of the pupils from schools around Citywest went home early on Wednesday, and some did not come in at all.
He added that the previous day, they went home early and “got the word and the warning that there was going to be trouble, so they locked themselves in their hotel rooms and they experienced extreme trauma” while the events outside unfolded.
Mr Shortall noted there are mixed feelings in the community surrounding events over the last few days.
Asked whether the incident, which allegedly involved a 10-year-old girl, has been hijacked by people intent on causing chaos, Mr Shortall said: “Such a case as these would naturally make people really scared and really worried and I can understand people’s fear and worries.
“What I don’t understand is why you would decide to destroy a building in order to say something about that.
“I think what’s really important in all these situations is to figure out the causes and to deal with them – and it’s not just a criminal justice problem, it’s a very broad problem.”
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Gardai said on Thursday that 31 people had been arrested in relation to the disorder, 23 of which – 21 males and two females – have appeared before the District Court.
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It said five male juveniles who were arrested have been released and will be dealt with under the Youth Diversion Programme.
Four garda members were injured and were treated in hospital, but have been discharged.
A man in his 30s, who was arrested by investigating Gardai on Wednesday afternoon for an alleged offence of violent disorder has since been charged. He appeared in court on Thursday.
