Dublin Protests Erupt After Migrant Rapes Child

Protesters set a police car on fire and hurled glass bottles at officers in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday night after an illegal migrant was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Irish girl who was in state care.

The violence erupted outside the City West Hotel, a sprawling former hotel-turned migrant center where an illegal migrant — who had deportation orders standing against him — is accused of attacking the girl late Sunday night.

Irish police, An Garda Síochána, said that six people were arrested during the clashes and one female police officer suffered a foot injury.

Police said their officers were subject to "sustained attacks" as they tried to cordon off the building. Nearly 300 police were dispatched to the area in Saggart.

Some protesters were seen waving Irish flags while others could be heard chanting, "Get them out, get them out," in reference to the 2,000 migrants living at the shelter.

Police said protesters hurled hundreds of empty glass bottles from nearby garbage containers and bricks at officers, while fireworks were also discharged. A police helicopter was targeted with lasers, a spokesperson said.

Men on horseback attempted to breach police lines by charging at law enforcement, police said. Police used pepper spray as they tried to disperse the crowd.

"An Garda Síochána facilitates peaceful protests on a daily basis. This was obviously not a peaceful protest," Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said in a statement. "The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence against Gardaí."

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin condemned the attacks on police and said there was "no justification for the vile abuse against them."

On Wednesday, he said the girl who was allegedly raped had not been protected by the state and the circumstances around the alleged attack are of "deep concern."

The victim was in the care of child protection services, known as "Tusla," which said she had absconded from staff during a planned recreational trip in the city center. It is unclear how she got in contact with the suspect.

The suspect, who is in his 20s, is originally from Africa, according to the Irish Mirror. He arrived in Ireland six years ago and failed his application for international protection in 2024 and was ordered deported in March, according to the Irish Times.

The incident took place on the grounds of Citywest, a former hotel which for the last few years has been housing migrants seeking international protection.

The Irish government bought the hotel in September for around $150 million with the aim of turning it into a permanent migrant facility despite several protests by locals.

Tensions around mass immigration continue to bubble since November 2023 when hundreds of rioters looted shops, set fire to vehicles and threw rocks at police officers after three young children were stabbed outside a school allegedly by an Algerian-born suspect who had become an Irish citizen.

Last week, a 17-year-old Ukrainian was murdered just days after he came to Ireland and was placed in asylum care operated by Tusla. A Somalian youth, also an asylum seeker and described as a minor, has been charged with his murder, according to RTE News.

A homeless foreign national was arrested and charged last week with the murder of an 89-year-old Irish woman, per the Irish Independent.

On Friday, Irish people go to the polls to elect a new president.

Ireland, with a population of about five million, is struggling to adapt to its transformation from a country of emigration to one of immigration.

It is in the grips of a chronic housing crisis, and there are fears that the strain on public services will worsen as record numbers of asylum seekers seek to stay.

In 2024, 18,651 people applied for asylum – more than 5,000 up on 2023’s total. Most applicants came from Nigeria, Jordan and Pakistan, while those from Sri Lanka and Guinea had the highest success rates.

That rate is believed to have slowed after the government tightened immigration rules and increased deportations in an effort to relieve an overburdened asylum system.

As of February, Ireland had welcomed about 112,000 Ukrainian refugees. The strain on state accommodation has been so great the government has resorted to tented housing.

Ireland spent about $469 million on accommodation for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees in the first three months of this year and expects to spend just under $4bn on asylum accommodation and related services in 2026.

The government bought the Citywest Hotel for $174m in September – a move officials said would save money after years of costly private contracts to house asylum seekers.

It now plans to convert it into permanent asylum-seeker accommodation.