2006 Dublin Riots - The Riot

The Riot

Sinn Féin, an Irish republican political party, did not organise a protest, and said that the march should be allowed to go ahead, calling for republicans to ignore the march. Republican Sinn Féin, a more radical group which broke away from Sinn Féin in 1986, had an organised presence.

Their protest blocked the north eastern junction of O'Connell Street and Parnell Street. The small Republican Sinn Féin group (and some activists from the Irish Republican Socialist Party) were joined by several hundred local youths, many covering their faces with scarves. Before the violence broke out, they chanted slogans such as "The I, The I, The IRA" and others that related to the Continuity IRA. Several thousand bystanders were also on the scene, but took no part in the subsequent rioting. When the marchers had formed up at the top of Parnell Square and their bands began to play in anticipation of the start of the march, gardaí attempted to disperse the protest at around 12:45. At this point, scuffles broke out between protesters and Gardaí.

After the failure of the initial garda effort to disperse the protesters, the violence escalated. The Garda Public Order Unit was deployed and stones and metal railings – to be used for renovation work on O'Connell Street – were thrown at gardaí by protesters; as were fireworks, bricks, crude petrol bombs, and other missiles. As the rioting continued, the ranks of the rioters were swelled by many local teenagers who had not taken part in the initial protest. Several barricades were constructed from building materials on the street to impede the march and the gardaí. The march was due to start at 12:30, but as the violence went on the gardaí decided against trying to escort the marchers through O'Connell Street, and at about 13:30 the assembled marchers returned to the coaches that had brought them to Dublin from Northern Ireland. The three coaches were then driven to Leinster House, where a small parade was carried out, and a letter was handed to Irish Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell. They were then escorted out of the city. One of the coaches was attacked by stone throwers on the way home.

Violence continued sporadically on O'Connell Street for another hour or so. The Gardaí, advancing from the northern end of the street gradually pushed the rioters back southwards. The most sustained violence took place around the General Post Office building, where the rioters initially sat down in protest and then, several of them having been batoned, regrouped behind burning barricades and threw rocks, paving slabs and one or possibly two petrol bombs at Gardaí. Several Gardaí, protesters and a number of journalists from RTÉ and TV3 were injured. RTÉ's chief news correspondent, Charlie Bird was singled out for attack by some rioters and was kicked and punched while being called an "Orange bastard" before being rescued by the Garda SDU officers. Charlie Bird had been a member of the Workers' Party of Ireland which had split from Sinn Féin in 1970 and were seen as highly critical of the Republican Movement. However some of the violence appeared to be entirely random in its targets. For instance several bystanders were attacked and a woman who was five months pregnant was punched in the stomach. The woman later sent a text message to NewsTalk 106 to thank the Gardaí and ambulance service who looked after her after the incident. In addition, the windows of several businesses, including Foot Locker, Schuh, and Ulster Bank near O'Connell Bridge, were smashed and at least one shop (Footlocker shoe shop) was looted. Among those arrested for looting this shop were a number of foreign nationals as well as locals — indicating that in the latter stages of the riot, much of the disturbances were opportunistic — inspired by vandalism or desire for theft rather than politically motivated.

While the stand off on O'Connell Street was still going on, several hundred rioters followed the Unionist coaches to the Nassau Street area where they set alight a number of cars and damaged several businesses. Again the attacks on cars and businesses in this area appears to have been entirely at random. On the other hand, the headquarters of the Progressive Democrats party (who are very critical of the Irish Republican movement) on South Frederick Street off Nassau Street was also attacked, which seems to indicate at least some political motivation among the rioters. Further skirmishes broke out around the River Liffey at O'Connell Bridge, Aston Quay, Fleet Street and Temple Bar, as the Gardaí re-took O'Connell street, before the rioters dispersed. The most serious property damage was in the Nassau Street area, where three cars were burnt out, windscreens were smashed, and businesses had their windows broken. Many people also became trapped in shops and restaurants, including branches of McDonald's and Burger King.

Having eventually dispersed the rioters, the gardaí then closed O'Connell Street to facilitate a clean up of the scene by building workers. Media reports have estimated the cost of the clean up job at €50,000, and Dublin Chamber of Commerce placed loss of earnings for businesses in the city due to the riots at €10,000,000.

Estimates for the number of unionist marchers before the event were predicted to be over 1,000. However only eight coach loads turned up in Dublin, indicating a far smaller number, in the region of 3–400. Estimates for the number of counter-demonstrators vary between 300 and 7,000. The number is made much more difficult to determine by the presence of the several thousand bystanders at the scene who did not take part. Most of the rioters appeared to be local youths, though some who brandished leaflets and other political literature were clearly political activists.