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Police Reportedly Use ‘Heavy Handed Tactics’ As Locals Revolt Against Gov’t Push To House Migrants In Their Town

Ireland Flag In Dublin

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Mith, CC BY-SA 3.0

Eireann Van Natta Contributor
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Protests against the Irish government’s plans to house asylum seekers escalated as locals in Coolock were reportedly met with forceful opposition by Ireland’s police. 

Some protesters allegedly caused damage by throwing fireworks and bricks at the police, according to the Irish Mirror. Videos posted online claim to show that fireworks and bricks were thrown at authorities. Law enforcement responded with disproportionate force against locals engaged in peaceful protest, GB News (GBN) Ireland Correspondent Dougie Beattie alleged in a video broadcast.

The video was posted on X by “European Conservative” journalist David Atherton. He characterized the tactics Beattie described being used by the Irish police as “heavy handed.” Beattie said he grew up during the Troubles period in Northern Ireland. He claimed that the police “opened up” on the locals. The GBN broadcast also played a video of an elderly man claiming he was pepper sprayed by the police. 

“These protests have been going on for about three months, and last night the Garda here kind of moved in to move these protesters from here,” Beattie said in the video. “And the Garda here kind of opened up on what were just local people — I mean, there was pensioners — with riot shields, pepper spray deployed.”

“But actually sitting here at this town — I grew up in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, and I’ve seen the playbook. It’s coming out now,” Beattie continued, adding that he had witnessed “helicopters overhead” and police vehicles carrying out “thunder runs.”

He claimed this was “straight out of the playbook” for breaking up a crowd by trying to “intimidate them” and “almost try and force them out.”

“But I can tell you in the last ten minutes the crowds are swelling here,” the correspondent said, adding that “politicians need to ask the local people here what they want, what is their problem, and what they want to see happen with their community.”

He said the locals are upset because their requests for more housing were denied, and now that housing is reportedly going toward immigrants. 

Despite the backlash over the potential importation of numerous asylum seekers, the Irish government is proposing to transform over 30 buildings into facilities to house migrants, according to Gript. (RELATED: ‘We Need To Be Able To Use Laws To Go After Them’: Irish PM Pushes For New Hate Speech Legislation Following Riots)

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris stated that those involved in rioting were not protesters, ITV News reported. “It was the hijacking of a situation by a group of people who engaged in utter thuggery and it’s not reflecting any means of the community of Coolock,” he reportedly added.

These demonstrations are not new in Ireland. Last year, a man allegedly stabbed three children and Dublin was subsequently engulfed by riots, according to The New York Times. Online rumors reportedly spread that the suspect was an Algerian migrant. The Irish Times reported that he had immigrated to Ireland and received citizenship 20 years prior. A man named Riad Bouchaker, 50, was reportedly charged with attempted murder in connection with the case in November.

The response from the police chief and some media outlets at the time was to blame the “far right.”

Immigration continues to be a critical issue in the country, with the left-wing party Sinn Féin acknowledging its immigration stance is out of step with many locals. Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, recently stated that the party “failed to reflect where most people are at” on immigration.