On Monday, up to 200 gardaí were deployed to Coolock in north Dublin after protests outside a disused former paint factory, earmarked to house international protection applicants, turned violent.
Clashes between gardaí and protesters outside the Crown Paints industrial unit on the Malahide road continued throughout the day and included violent scenes of fireworks, glass bottles and so-called “fast gas” canisters being aimed at lines of Public Order Unit gardaí.
A potent mix of disinformation, local concerns, and far right agitators created the perfect storm for the disturbances which eventually calmed down in the early hours of Monday morning.
By Tuesday, three-metre-high concrete barriers had been erected to block access to the disused site where the Department of Integration has planned to house about 550 asylum seekers.
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What exactly happened in Coolock on Monday, who was responsible for the violence and did gardaí respond in the right way?
And, can anything be done to counter the online disinformation fuelling anti-immigrant protests and clashes?
Today, on In The News, how the clashes in Coolock went from a sit-in protest to violence on the streets.
Irish Times Crime and Security Editor Conor Lally discusses Monday’s timeline of events and how concerns are mounting within An Garda Síochána about a complex and volatile security threat in north Dublin.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
