Another fire broke out at a disused factory earmarked for international protection applicants in north Dublin on Friday night.
The blaze at the former Crown Paints factory on Malahide Road, Coolock, began after an anti-immigration protest attended by over 500 people.
Gardaí had sealed off Malahide Road for the second time on Friday night at about 7.30pm when the fire was noticed at the site. The same lobby area that was damaged by fire on Thursday night was affected, with Dublin Fire Brigade dispatching several units to the scene.
A number of scuffles broke out and members of the Garda public order unit advanced on the crowd, dispersing them with shields and pepper spray.
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No injuries have been reported.
Earlier, a large group of protesters had marched from the site to nearby Coolock Garda station to submit a letter of complaint about policing in the area over the last week.
The crowd was blocked on Oscar Traynor Road, a short distance from the station, by a line of uniform gardaí – backed by the public order unit and detectives. However, several representatives were allowed through the Garda lines to submit the letter of complaint about the policing tactics during street disturbances in the area on Monday and Tuesday.
The Garda helicopter monitored events on the ground while a high visibility Garda presence was maintained in the area.
The fire appeared to have been brought under control quickly and a number of fire tenders were parked on Malahide Road about 200 metres away.
Video of the fire, recorded over a large concrete fence around the site, was shared on social media.
The group that marched to within 100 metres of the Garda station dispersed just after 7pm, with several hundred walking back to the nearby former Crown Paints site to resume a protest there. It was shortly after that time the fire on the site was noticed.
The protest group had gathered at that site from late afternoon after a call was made by the ‘Coolock Says No’ group to protest there from 6pm. Once the crowd had assembled it moved along both carriageways of Malahide Road, blocking it in two directions.
A short rally was then held, with several speakers including new Dublin city councillor Malachy Steenson, Cllr Patrick Quinlan of the National Party and Cllr Glen Moore, also of the National Party.
Earlier, gardaí had carried out searches in the area in a bid to thwart any efforts to conceal projectiles such as petrol bombs in advance of the protest.
[ Coolock unrest: Fire at Crown Paints building earmarked to house asylum seekersOpens in new window ]
Serious unrest flared at the site on Monday after gardaí moved in just before 4am in a bid to remove a protest camp in place at the entrance since March. A petrol bomb was thrown and an excavator was destroyed by flames.
There followed serious disturbances through the day, with most of those present eventually dispersing by about 9.30pm. The crowds were charged, or chased, by gardaí who used pepper sprays and shields to clear Malahide Road, which was blocked to vehicles for hours.
[ ‘At the heart of this is poverty’: How Coolock’s pressure-cooker finally explodedOpens in new window ]
Though the unrest was much more brief, and less violent, on Tuesday evening, members of public order unit were again deployed, with members of the smaller crowd engaging in minor skirmishes with gardaí.
Arson is being suspected after the first fire started on Thursday night.
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