Irish police arrested 11 people after anti-immigration and counter-protest demonstrations took place in Dublin city centre on Monday.
More than 300 police officers were on duty in the city centre during the demonstrations, police said.
Protesters gathered in the Garden of Remembrance for the anti-immigration protest at 2pm, some carrying Irish flags as well as signs and banners with slogans such as “Ireland First” and “Mass Immigration”.
The protest started at Parnell Square East and then moved down O’Connell Street and towards the seafronts. Speeches were then made outside Custom House.
A police spokesman said members of the Garda National Public Order Unit, Garda Mounted Unit, Garda Dog Unit, Garda Air Support Unit, Divisional Plain Clothes Gardaí and police officers from national units came to support the unified police units.
He also added that “following the events at Custom House Quay, a small group attempted to cause further disruption to traffic” in the city centre. The spokesperson said:
“An Garda Síochána proactively engaged with and disrupted this group’s activity.”
Eleven arrests were made, mostly for summary offences under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.
During speeches outside Customs House, an anti-immigration protest called for a “no” vote in the upcoming referendums in March.
The rally was attended by members of the National Party and the far-right Irish Freedom Party. A counter-protest also took place outside the GPO building on O’Connell Street.
Due to the protests there were some delays on the red and green Luas lines and some Dublin Bus routes were diverted. All public transport has since returned to normal operations.
