Exploring the nations paving the way for the future of AI
Rumors had been circulating on social media about the nationality of the suspected perpetrator of the afternoon stabbings at the school.
Calm was restored to the city by police before midnight.
However, after 6 pm that evening, a mob of at least 100 rioters took to the streets, clashing with police and setting schools and shops on fire.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins said the disorder "deserves condemnation by all those who believe in the rule of law and democracy."
Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee called the behavior "intolerable." She said that a "thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc."
Members of the crowd threatened journalists and claimed the media were not telling the truth about immigration, when they were questioned about why they were causing the violence.
A superintendent spokesman said some members of the police force had been attacked and assaulted, in a video statement released on social media.
Garda (Irish police) Commissioner Drew Harris said a "complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology" was behind the disorder.
Dublin's city center experienced a night of violent rioting between large groups of people and police on November 23, 2023. Arrests have been made following the confrontation between police and the perpetrators of the aggression—a mob who caused absolute destruction. The unrest was sparked by an attack that same afternoon, where a woman and three children were seriously injured by a man brandishing a knife. In the wake of social media rumors about the stabbings, a far-right group of people took to the streets that night to cause havoc.
The images are striking. Click on this gallery to witness the chaos, and to learn more about the panic that gripped the city.
No details about the attacker were available publicly, and misinformation about the attack circulated online afterwards.
Transport services were disrupted during the violence, while 11 police vehicles and 13 shops were badly damaged during the clashes.
The rioting caused "huge destruction" and led to 34 arrests, the police commissioner confirmed on November 24, 2023.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said legislation for hate crime would be brought before the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) in response to the riots.
At the peak of the response to the disturbance, over 400 police officers were deployed to Dublin city center to deal with the violence.
However, there has been a growth in small, anti-immigrant protests in the last year.
A recent protest trapped lawmakers inside parliament, causing a government review of security in and around the building.
Buses and trams were set on fire, store windows were smashed, and shops were looted as loud bangs rang out around the city.
The Irish public broadcaster, RTE, showed a bus set on fire that was graffitied with the word "Out."
Demonstrators set off flares and fireworks. Others grabbed chairs and stools outside bars and restaurants and threw them at police.
Police and politicians called for calm and warned against misinformation over the attack earlier in the day.
Police in riot gear used shields and batons to clear a crowd on O’Connell Street, in Dublin's central area, as a police helicopter hovered overhead.
The next morning, tributes were being paid to emergency services and council and transport workers, who were on the front line dealing with the rioting and the cleanup afterwards.
Sources: (The Irish Times) (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Such rioting is almost unprecedented in the Irish capital. No far-right parties or politicians are elected to parliament.
Several police officers were injured in the riot, the police commissioner confirmed, with one being seriously hurt.
During more than three hours of sustained rioting, three buses and a tram were also destroyed.
The police commissioner denied that his force had failed to protect Dubliners and their city from the violence. "We could not have anticipated that in response to a terrible crime—the stabbing of school children and their teacher—that this would be the response," he said.
A girl (five) and a woman in her thirties were seriously injured by a man with a knife, while a six-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy sustained less serious injuries.
RTE also reported that protesters had chanted anti-immigration slogans.
On Thursday, November 23, 2023, an attack happened as children left their school in Parnell Square, a busy thoroughfare in Dublin’s north inner city.
A Brazilian Deliveroo driver, who saw the man attacking a young girl with a knife, got off his bike and started hitting the attacker with his helmet. More passersby intervened to protect the children and restrain the man.
Images of an explosive night of violent rioting in Dublin
The city center of Ireland's capital was torched and looted
LIFESTYLE Ireland
Dublin's city center experienced a night of violent rioting between large groups of people and police on November 23, 2023. Arrests have been made following the confrontation between police and the perpetrators of the aggression—a mob who caused absolute destruction. The unrest was sparked by an attack that same afternoon, where a woman and three children were seriously injured by a man brandishing a knife. In the wake of social media rumors about the stabbings, a far-right group of people took to the streets that night to cause havoc.
The images are striking. Click on this gallery to witness the chaos, and to learn more about the panic that gripped the city.