In the aftermath of the rioting that erupted in the centre of Dublin following a knife attack outside a primary school, which left three children and their carer injured, Archbishop Dermot Farrell has appealed to people to challenge misinformation that “seeks to sow doubt, suspicion, resentment and fear”.
In a statement, the Archbishop of Dublin said some people may have felt “bewildered and anxious” following the “shocking events”.
The stabbings were followed by the worst violence seen on the streets of the Irish capital since the 2006 riot by dissident republicans over a proposed march by the Unionist “Love Ulster” group.
On Friday morning, the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris blamed the “huge destruction” on a “lunatic, hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology”.
Thirty-two people appeared in court on Friday in the aftermath of the violence which left some police officers injured as they battled to quell the violent mob. Thirteen shops were damaged and 11 garda cars, three buses and a Luas tram were set alight.
“This is a moment of truth for our city and for Irish society more broadly,” a dismayed Archbishop Farrell commented.
Violence, he said, puts everyone - especially the vulnerable and the innocent - in mortal danger. “In places we know first-hand, we have seen its power to draw people in and consume them in a spiral of hatred and wanton destruction,” a reference to the far-right groups blamed for fomenting the disorder among a group of about 200 disaffected young men.
He warned that this could very markedly, erode the ethos of peace and safety that usually characterises our lives together.
Information has emerged in the aftermath of the horrific knife attack on the schoolchildren which challenges the narrative of those seeking to politicise it for the far right as those who disabled the attacker included a Brazilian Deliveroo motorcyclist, recently arrived in Ireland, and a French trainee chef.
The five-year-old child who was most seriously injured in the attack is the daughter of a father from Eastern Europe and a mother from South America.
In his statement, Archbishop Farrell, whose episcopal seat in Dublin is St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, a few minutes’ walk from the scene of both the stabbing and the riot, appealed to people not to be helpless or passive in the face of what they had witnessed.
He asked them to “challenge the casual remarks that spread cynicism and prejudice” and to reach out in solidarity and friendship to “those who have made their homes among us, but who are being targeted with words of hate and gestures that are filled with hostility and derision”.
“Let us not forget the invaluable contribution so many make to our economy and society. Let us not take for granted the vibrant gifts of faith and witness which they bring to our parish communities.”
“In solidarity, we pray for the victims of the horrific assault on Parnell Square, for their families, for the school staff, and the children in Scoil Mhuire Primary School. We give thanks for the courage and decisiveness of those who acted so promptly with such selflessness, for the skill of the emergency services and Gardaí, and for all who helped restore order.”
Separately, the Dublin City Interfaith Forum also responded to the violence and said its members were “shocked by the horrendous attack on our young children and adults” outside the school.
The statement was issued in the name of Archbishop Michael Jackson, Chair of Dublin City Interfaith Forum and Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin.
“We are grateful to the members of An Garda Síochána, other emergency services and members of the public who put themselves in harm’s way to professionally and proportionately respond to the uncontrolled violence and thuggery that erupted after the horrific attack,” the interfaith group said.
It added that what had unfolded “was orchestrated public disorder stoked by hate and far–right rhetoric online and on our streets”.
The group condemned the attacks on emergency service personnel and vehicles, the burning of Garda cars and public transport, the looting of department stores and the damage to retail premises deserves condemnation and those people and groups who sought “to sow hatred and division in our community”.
The Dublin Interfaith Forum said it stood by all those who hold the rule of law and democracy and asked how the scars left from the events last Thursday can heal. “We ask people to treasure the diversity of our city. This is a diversity that stretches back to its very founding.”
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