A news team covering the protests at Citywest last night which took place in response to the alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl say that they were “pepper-sprayed, smashed and knocked to the ground” by Gardaí.
Thousands of people gathered to protest at the Citywest asylum complex last night after an African asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting the 10-year-old child who was in state care at the time. It is not publicly known how the little girl ended up at the asylum complex.
Dougie Beattie, who is GB News Northern Ireland Correspondent, said last night on air that his team had “just been attacked by the police themselves”, and said that in all his time as a reporter, including coverage of riots in Northern Ireland, he had “never, ever seen the police attack the media”. He also said that locals had met the Gardaí’s horse units with their own horses.
Beattie said the team had identified themselves as media before they were “openly attacked”, while they were covering the angry protest by thousands of people at Citywest where pepper-spray was repeatedly used and water cannon was deployed by Gardaí.
“But the Gardaí thought it’d be better to pepper-spray us and then actually smash into the camerawoman and then smash into the camera, knocking us to the ground,” Beattie told GB News, reiterating that the news team had been clearly identified. “It must be said that the police did not handle this extremely well,” he added.
He later told GB’s Breakfast show that he had been covering riots for 32 years and that the procedure was to identify yourself as media to the police line, but that the Gardaí had knocked the camerawoman into a metal fence, before “openly assaulting us”.
“I looked into their eyes, and they still made a conscious decision to go for us. They came straight at us. They pepper-sprayed us and came at us with shields,” he said, adding that he hoped it was fear and naivety and not “political”.
Fireworks, rocks and missiles had been hurled at Gardaí who sought to keep protesters away from the entrance to the asylum complex at Citywest, charging at protesters, using pepper-spray liberally, and employing mounted public order units. A Garda van was set on fire during the protests.
The Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, said last night there is “no excuse” for the violent scenes in Citywest. He said: “The gardaí are prepared for this, but attacking gardaí and property is not an answer.”
In a statement last night (Tuesday) , gardaí said the protest was not peaceful, describing the violence that occured as “thuggery and an attempt to intimidate and injure.”
Throughout the evening, nearly 300 Garda members were on duty, including 125 uniformed officers, 150 public order members, and units with water cannon, mounted and dog patrols, and air support, they said.
Five people are due in court later today, and will charged with public order offences following the protest. Gardaí said two men in their 50s and three in their 40s were due to appear before the courts on Wednesday morning.
Public anger has erupted after an asylum seeker understood to be from Africa was charged today with sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl in Citywest yesterday. It has been confirmed that the young girl was in the care of Tusla, the State’s Child and Family Agency.
Rebel News Journalist, Ezra Levant, also said that he had been pepper-sprayed by Gardaí, accusing them of being “indiscriminate” with the use of the spray.
“The pain of pepper spray is one thing, but the main thing is you can’t see, so you can’t really move. Police were indiscriminate — attacking anyone and everyone including journalists and even someone in a wheelchair. Quite a night!” he posted on X.
In April of 2024, while covering a protest against an IPAS centre in Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow, Gript Media’s reporter Fatima Gunning was pepper-sprayed by a member of An Garda Siochána, despite having repeatedly and audibly identified herself as a working journalist.
The state’s use of the Citywest complex as an asylum hotel has provoked a storm of controversy in the local community who opposed the establishment of a permanent centre. A packed meeting held to oppose the continued use of Citywest as a IPAS centre this summer heard that locals had been “victims of harassment, stalking, violence”, with one woman saying that she had “been chased by a group of men home and filmed” and that when she went to the Garda station, her complaint wasn’t recorded.
The issue of immigration has seen mass protests around the country for at least 36 months, while opinion polls show that a significant majority of people are unhappy with the current migration policies and would like to restrictions on immigration.