Roderic O’Gorman, the minister for integration, has refuted claims that there was little communication with the Coolock community on a new accommodation complex proposal, reports RTE.
After trucks and building equipment were brought on site, violent disruptions started at the location of the former Crown Paints facility, which is a proposed development for applicants for international protection.
Fireworks and petrol bombs were hurled, a digger was set on fire, two garda cars were destroyed, and a security guard was hurt.
Twenty-one individuals were taken into custody and accused; fifteen of them showed up in court yesterday night, and six more did so this afternoon, reports RTE.
According to Mr. O’Gorman, “very detailed information was in the public domain for a considerable time” when he spoke this afternoon.
The community engagement team of the Department informed Dublin City Council, TDs, and council members in late March that an offer had been received to utilise the former Crown Paints site for housing, reports RTE.
A meeting with TDs, council members, and community leaders took place at the beginning of April, and thorough briefing materials were distributed.
The sights in Coolock yesterday night and the destruction to both public and private property, according to Mr. O’Gorman, were unacceptable.
No amount of community involvement, according to Taoiseach Simon Harris, could have stopped the public order incident that happened in Coolock earlier, reports RTE.
He applauded the gardaÃ’s “swift action” in handling the event and the late-night court sessions that followed.
According to the Taoiseach, what happened yesterday was not representative of the people of Coolock and instead represented the “hijacking of a situation” by a number of individuals who participated in “utter thuggery”.
According to the Department of Integration, there has been a delay for several months in the effort to turn the site of the old Crown Paints facility into housing for some 550 IP candidates, reports RTE.
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