Updated: 11.50am
Taoiseach Simon Harris has condemned violent scenes in Coolock on Monday as "sheer thuggery".
He said what took place at the former Crown Paints factory on the Malahide Road, which has been earmarked to accommodate international protection applicants, was not about a lack of community engagement.
Fifteen people arrested during the disturbance on Monday appeared before a special sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday night, charged with a range of public order offences. Four other people were also arrested.
Speaking to RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland on Tuesday morning, Mr Harris said Gardaí and workers at the site should not have been put in danger.
"I am somewhat perplexed that this morning that I still hear in media and political discourse a reference to protesters.
"To be clear, when you decide to use a petrol bomb, you lost your right to be called a protester.
"I’m not quite sure why we have decided to, in any manner or means, legitimatise in any way, shape or form the actions of people who engaged in sheer thuggery yesterday evening and try to harm the men and women of An Garda Síochána, disrupt a community and cause utter chaos.
"I want to pay respect to the people of Coolock, people who called for calm, and indeed people who cleaned up after others came to their community to cause chaos," the Taoiseach said.
What we saw last night was such a distance away from my question about community engagement
Advertisement
"Everybody knew this facility was going to be used to provide shelter for migrants. People can agree or disagree, but no amount of community engagement is required to tell somebody not to throw a brick, not to set a digger on fire, not to harm a security guard, not to put the men and women of An Garda Síochána in danger.
"I've had it up to here with this 'whataboutery'," he said.
"We will continue to communicate better with communities – good, decent people across the country who want to talk about legitimate issues.
"There's such a role for that, every community has a right to be engaged with, [but] what we saw last night was such a distance away from my question about community engagement.
"It was sheer thuggery. It should be called out as such, and I want to really thank the Gardaí for the very swift action they took in a very difficult circumstance that amounted to many arrests."
Mr Harris reiterated: "This is not protest or an issue of community engagement.
"This is an issue of a relatively small number of people who think they have a right to do whatever the hell they like in this country, who showed disdain for the laws of our land, disdain for the men and women of An Garda Síochána.
"It was the hijacking of a situation by a group of people who engaged in utter thuggery, and it’s not a reflection by any means of the community of Coolock."
The Taoiseach's comments come after Minister for Justice Helen McEntee defended the Garda response, telling Morning Ireland that officers acted "quickly and in force".
"It is unacceptable that Gardaí would be targeted in the way that they were. I want to commend them for the way in which they responded," she said.
Ms McEntee added that misinformation and disinformation remained "an absolute focus" for the Government so they could provide clarity for communities regarding accommodating asylum seekers.
"Minister [for Integration Roderic] O'Gorman and his department are engaging directly with communities," Ms McEntee said.
"That engagement will continue, but again, it is not legitimate for any individual to use communications as a reason for this type of violent criminal behaviour."
The Minister said she expects more people will come before the courts in the coming weeks and months in relation to Monday's scenes, adding that body cameras had been used by Gardaí, and evidence from the cameras would be part of the process.
Speaking on the use of body-cams, Mr Harris said he was "particularly pleased" to see their benefit, "because I've no doubt that would have been very, very helpful in gathering important evidence in relation to a scene".
Déjà vu
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil councillor Daryl Barron blamed Monday's "shocking and disturbing" violence on the "lack of clarity and communication" from the Department of Integration with the community in Coolock.
Also speaking to Morning Ireland, Cllr Barron said the scene had been "like a bit of déjà vu all over again", comparing it to rioting which broke out in Dublin city centre last November.
"The destruction of Garda vehicles, the damage to property within the vicinity, just the shocking, sheer shocking scenes.
"I outrightly, condemn the violence that happened. A lot of these people who did these arson attacks are not from the local community, and that in itself is truly, truly shocking," Cllr Barron said.
He added that he had known there was opposition to plans to accommodate international protection applicants at the site on the Malahide Road, as the issue was frequently mentioned to him during his clinics with constituents.
"I think people understand that we have a duty of care to look after people that are seeking refuge in our country, but the reality is that the lack of transparency, the lack of communication with community groups hasn't been good enough.
"That in itself is what a certain element of society is feeding off."
He added the lack of information on the matter is "causing people a bit of anxiety".
"The lack of clarity from the department has been unacceptable. The last follow-up engagement meeting was the 8th of April.
"That's over three calendar months since we had a meeting with the department. The reality is, is that that's not good enough.
"There has was no engagement up until yesterday. There has been no engagement. There was an email sent out at 12.30(pm) yesterday to local politicians. That's not good enough," Cllr Barron said.
However, speaking to RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne show, Fine Gael TD Richard Bruton echoed Mr Harris' comments, claiming those involved in Monday's violence do not represent the community in Coolock.
"I find it totally galling to see people waving our national flag and claiming to be protecting the local community because nothing could be further from the truth. What patriot would condone this?" Mr Bruton said.
He added: "Of course, issues will be raised about other needs in the community, and they're absolutely legitimate, and we're all working on those, but as you know, there has been an openness about what has been proposed.
"Anyone who wants to know what's being put forward, that information was there, it was circulated in quite considerable time."
Mr Bruton said those who took part in anti-social behaviour on Monday were "isolationists" and were not concerned about efforts to improve the local community or integration.
"They are trying to exploit the uncertainty that people feel about the fact that there are higher levels of migration coming to this country as to every other European country at the moment, because that's the reality here, and there's no perfect way of managing this."
