Government will not be dictated to by small, violent group opposed to asylum accommodation, says Tánaiste

The Government will not be dictated to by the small group that has violently opposed accommodation for international protection applicants (IPAs) in north Dublin and the law will ultimately hold against them, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.

He rejected out of hand the suggestion that opposition from some quarters to the IPAs being housed in the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock had proven so determined and violent the facility would be unsafe for foreign nationals, especially black men.

“The rule of the law has to apply and the writ of the State has to run,” Mr Martin said. “Groups [engaged in violence] cannot get their own way by that kind of behaviour. The Government is very clear in what it has to do in terms of upholding the rule of law.”

He added the attacks on gardaí last week in Coolock – last Monday week, when 30 arrests were made, and again on Tuesday and Friday, with five arson attacks also at the site last week – represented an attack on the State and its citizens.

Responding to questions from The Irish Times at a Defence Forces event in Dublin on Wednesday evening, Mr Martin said unprecedented numbers of people were now coming into the Republic to seek asylum – “treble the number that were coming in 2019″.

Furthermore, some 106,000 Ukrainians had arrived since the Russian invasion of their country almost 2½ years ago, down to about 83,000 in the Republic at present.

Against that backdrop, though it was “groundhog day in one or two locations” earmarked to accommodate migrants, with robust opposition and some violence, that dynamic was far from typical in Ireland in recent years.

“In the vast majority of locations, society has accommodated and absorbed [the new arrivals],” Mr Martin said, adding though “some people may not be in entire agreement with that”, violence had resulted in only a very small number of locations.

People “need to keep balance and perspective here” and in those areas where unrest and violence had flared, it was being “managed” by the Garda.

“What happened in Coolock is wrong,” Mr Martin said. “We need to be very clear there can be no room for attacking members of An Garda Síochána by certain elements in Coolock, or anywhere else across the country. That is an attack on the State, it’s an attack on society, and on democracy, and on all of us.”

Separately, Mr Martin said he supported the release of reports compiled by the United Nations in the murder of Private Seán Rooney in Lebanon. Pte Rooney (24), Dundalk, Co Louth, was shot dead on United Nations peacekeeping duties when his convoy was attacked on December 14th, 2022, in a Hizbullah-controlled area in southern Lebanon.

Dublin Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard the UN has carried out “substantial” and “significant” investigations into the events surrounding the killing of Pte Rooney but the international body considers the reports “confidential”. Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said there had been certain restrictions on disclosure of these reports from the UN in the case.

Mr Martin said he had sought the release of the UN reports to the family of Pte Rooney. He added the family had already had limited access to some of the material held by the UN. Defence Forces Chief of Staff Leut Gen Seán Clancy said he was fully supportive of Mr Martin’s efforts to secure the reports but he said he was mindful that an inquest process was under way. He did not want to comment further for fear of compromising that process.