EYEWITNESS: As two ambulances led by a Garda car took away the first group of Afghan asylum seekers on hunger strike from St Patrick's cathedral on Saturday night, a cheer went up from local residents while protesters sat on the ground in an attempt to block their way.
Angry exchanges between the two groups had been heightening all day and inevitably came to a head as ambulances took the minors into the care of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and several Garda vans took the remaining 33 adults to face criminal charges.
Earlier, Ajmal Khan (34) had told The Irish Times by phone from inside the cathedral: "Morale is high with all of us. Some of us are taking water and some of us aren't." He said the older people in the group could no longer be responsible for the younger men threatening suicide.
As the week-long protest ended, tensions were high and a few scuffles ensued. Residents Against Racism along with other left-wing activists and political parties were supporting the Afghans, while local residents and members of the homeless community were protesting their occupation of the cathedral.
Children as young as eight carried posters saying "Get them Out. Let them Die". Many had been brought down by their parents to view what had become a tourist attraction.
About 100 people, supporters and protesters, witnessed the peaceful ending to the week-long spectacle.
As one by one the Garda vehicles brought out the men, gardaí were forced to push back supporters attempting to form a human barricade to halt their progress. On the other side, local residents, mostly children at this stage, roared their approval. This spilled over into minor scuffles with at least one woman claiming to have been assaulted. Chants of "send them home" clashed with a call for "no more racism".
Local residents had maintained a strong presence at the cathedral all day on Saturday, protesting what they saw as "foreigners holding us all to ransom".
A rally organised by Residents Against Racism in support of the Afghans was continuously heckled and gardaí were forced several times to intervene.
At one stage there were fears that a riot would break out.
Sinn Féin politicians and members of the Socialist Workers Party among others called for the Government to grant the men's demand for refugee status.
Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins told those gathered: "Our Government has double standards. They are begging the US authorities to let the so-called 60,000 Irish illegals stay . . . why can they not do the same for a few dozen here?"
He also asked the residents protesting against the asylum seekers to "put their blame for local issues with the Department of Justice, not on poor people coming for refuge".
His words were met with anger and cynicism. "I sleep in a doorway and I'm an Irish citizen," Martin Coleman said. "If I went into that cathedral I'd be dragged straight out of it. They are being allowed to hold that church to ransom."
Local resident Mary-Ann McGee said: "Asylum seekers get too much. We're not looking after our own because we're too busy giving them everything."
A number of asylum seekers supported the protest. Alan, an Iranian, said their protest highlighted their "immense sense of frustration, something felt by all asylum seekers in Ireland".
Outside, local residents ripped down posters supporting the Afghans. As he did so, one young boy remarked: "I hate the gardaí but I hate the immigrants more."