Irish protests erupt after illegal immigration blamed for attacks on girls

Demonstrators set a police car on fire and threw glass bottles in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday night after the illegal transfer of a sex offender who was in state care.

The violence broke out outside the city’s West End, a former center of evidence where an illegal immigrant – who was debating orders to stand by – is accused of attacking the girl on Sunday night.

Irish police, the Garda Síochána, said six people were arrested during the altercation and one female police officer was injured in the leg.

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Police said their bosses faced “sustained attacks” as they tried to break into the building. About 300 police officers were dispatched to the Saggart area.

Some protesters were seen waving Irish flags and others were heard chanting, “get them out, get them out,” referring to the 2,000 migrants living in the shelter.

Police said protesters threw hundreds of empty glass bottles into garbage cans near the brickyards, and firefighters were also called out. The helicopter was targeted by lasers, said a spokesman for the group.

The border men tried to break the police lines by charging when the law was enforced, the police said. Police used pepper spray as they tried to disperse the crowd.

“Garda Síocchána provide peaceful protests every day. This was not a peaceful hoax,” said the Garda Commissioner. “The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was the intent of the mob to aim violence against the Gardaí.”

Films crash as a Garda car bursts into flames during a violent confrontation outside a hotel with asylum seekers in Saggart, south-west Dublin, on Oct. 21, 2025. (Peter Murphy/AFP via Getty Images)

The Prime Minister of Ireland, Micheál Martin, condemned the attack by the police and said that “there is no way to repair the trauma that has been inflicted on them.”

On Wednesday, he said the girl who was allegedly raped was not protected by the state and the circumstances surrounding the alleged attack are “deeply troubling.”

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The victim was in the care of child protection services, known as “Tusla,” until they were fired from staff during a planned city-centre outing. It is not clear how to contact the suspect.

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

This incident took place on the grounds of the town, which was a hotel a few years ago and these migrants came to seek international protection.

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

A protester removes an Irish flag in front of police on Oct. 21, 2025, Dublin, Ireland. Demonstrators gathered outside a city hotel after police arrested a foreigner for the rape of a 10-year-old girl. (Pet Pictures)

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 killed just days after arriving in Ireland and being placed in the care of an Asylum operated by tusla. A Somali teenager, also an asylum seeker and described as a child, has been charged with his murder, according to RTE news.

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A foreign national has been arrested and charged last week for the murder of an 89-year-old Irish woman, who is independent of Ireland.

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