“MOTIVATED BY HATE”
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that protesters who battled police and looted shops were motivated by “hate” and brought “shame on Ireland”.
“Those involved brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves,” Varadkar told reporters.
For his part, Harris blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” for the disorder.
“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence.”
Harris said calm was restored in the city shortly after midnight.
Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the scenes of disorder were “intolerable” and that a “thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc”.
“We will not tolerate a small number using an appalling incident to spread division,” she said.
Some protesters carried signs reading “Irish Lives Matter” and waved Irish flags through a neighbourhood home to a large immigrant community.
One protester told AFP that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum”.
Ireland has been facing a chronic housing crisis, with the government estimating that there is a deficit of hundreds of thousands of homes for the general population.
Widespread dissatisfaction has fed into a backlash against asylum seekers and refugees, and far-right figures have promoted anti-immigration sentiment at rallies and on social media with claims that “Ireland is full”.