More than 20 people were driven from an International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre in Drogheda, after arson attack in which attackers used fireworks to set the property ablaze. The fire service intervened to extinguish the fire but four children required hospital treatment, including a baby, though there were no severe injuries.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin issued a statement on the shocking violence, saying:

I condemn in the strongest terms the deeply disturbing incident at the IPAS centre in Drogheda. To put vulnerable families, including young children, at risk is abhorrent and has no place in our society. Our thoughts are with those affected by this horrifying experience.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said:

I want to emphasise that violent attacks like that are completely unacceptable, and people responsible for them will be brought to justice.

Arson attack: 1 in 4 housed by protection service are children

The potentially fatal attack occurred at around 20:00 on Friday November 1, with five terrified residents left stranded on the top floor as the fire spread, until firefighters intervened. 28 people are residents of the housing, which shelters asylum seekers and refugees. 23 are reported to have been forced out on the night. All have been unable to return, and have been temporarily rehoused elsewhere.

On their website, the International Protection Accommodation Service explain how they:

…provide accommodation for people who have sought international protection from their home country. Living in a centre is voluntary and residents can leave at any time.

They point out that:

1 in 4 of our residents is a child with their family.

A police investigation has begun, with RTE quoting An Garda Síochána:

Following initial reports of the fire being started by the discharge of fireworks, investigations by An Garda Síochána to date indicate that the fire was started deliberately by person or persons unknown.

An Garda Síochána has commenced an investigation into the attempted arson of this residential property.

This was an extremely dangerous act endangering the lives of the residents, including children, who were in their home at the time.

Locals shaken by cruelty of attack

They also feature an interview with a visibly upset local woman, distressed at the cruelty of such an attack on vulnerable people, potentially already traumatised by the situations they fled:

It’s just devastating – poor families, kids. How can anyone just be so cruel?

She continued:

No one deserves to be treated like that, everyone deserves to have a safe home no matter what country you come from. We could have trouble on our doorstep, where would we run to? We’d have to run to another country.

Ireland, of course, has a long history of emigration, with centuries of people fleeing political or religious persecution, and genocidal starvation policies. The Irish diaspora is estimated to total 70 million. There is therefore something particularly grotesque about such hostility being meted out to people suffering the same hardships that blighted generations past on this island. The Irish Times reports “numerous offers of assistance” in the small town, however, with local bed and breakfast premises offering rooms for those affected.

Arson attacks against those seeking safe haven are not new — attackers set tents on fire in Dublin in September 2024, and there have been numerous other attacks, with serious far-right violence erupting in the last fortnight, again in Dublin. Arson attacks have also been used in England to terrify migrants, with the infamous August 2024 attempted pogrom at a hotel in Rotherham being a prominent example. Ballymena in the North of Ireland was this year also the scene of brutal racist violence which included repeated instances of burning property.

Consistent failure on housing is a vehicle for the far-right

Much of the resentment in all cases is driven by housing crises, with an absence of affordable homes leaving unprecedented levels of homelessness. The far-right continue to drive a narrative of favourable treatment for new arrivals to Ireland, though the official statistics show 50% of the 16,600 accessing emergency accommodation are citizens of other nations, a huge percentage given relatively low levels of immigration. Emergency accommodation is typically hostels or other communal living arrangements, rather than more conventional housing. Once rough sleepers are factored in, the homelessness figure may be 20,000. Many of these people are also likely to be migrants, as tent cities around Dublin suggest.

The blame for all this should clearly not be foisted on those fleeing war and persecution overseas. It should be laid primarily at the feet of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, who have for decades failed to build sufficient social housing or address obscene rent prices. Other political parties that previously didn’t indulge far-right scaremongering have begun talking in the language of “legitimate concerns”. Figures like Conor McGregor have poisoned the political climate, with their own toxic brand of ‘Ireland first’ nationalism.

New president Catherine Connolly has been a recent powerful voice of opposition to this trend, however, speaking up in favour of a diverse Ireland and against landlordism and the absence of social housing. Quelling the far-right will require additional prominent progressive figures to emerge, along with real action to tackle the crises of neoliberalism that drive this rise of reactionary ideas.

Featured image via RTÉ

By Robert Freeman

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