On a hindsight, what I went through on Thursday, 23 November 2023, is absolutely stupid. I was in the Dublin when the riots occurred that day. Never in my wildest imagination that I will be stuck in the city during the Dublin Riots. When I was in Malaysia, my motto is to stay away from protest like Bersih rally in case it turned into a Riot.

Colleague sets up monthly social session in the city on every last Thursday of the month. I locked up my laptop in the office and took the train to the city with my colleague. Was in the LUAS when we realised there was a disruption in the service and the tram will stop at Dominick station. It is quite a walk from the last stop to our meeting point and we still have to cross the Liffey River.

Earlier in the day

There was an incident earlier in the day where 5 people were injured in a knife attack in a creche. Among those critically injured were 5 year old children. It was also reported that the creche is for an Irish primary school. Perpetrator was caught, victims were rushed to the nearest hospitals. It was tragic as it involved young children.

Wife messaged me this news while I was in the LUAS too. Didn’t think much of it because there has been a spate of crimes in the city centre recently. Sounds like another serious crime. Since the perpetrator is caught and Garda was not looking for anyone else, case should have been settled

However there are people see this differently. This is a tragic incident beyond anything they have experienced. This is the spark that lit the powder keg. Apparently news went around that the attacked is an unvetted (their word for illegal) immigrant. The story is that the migrants are killing Irish children. Time for the Irish to take back the country.

Small Bonfire

At Dominick station, there were a few LUAS staff asking us to move off the station. We then walked towards Ilac Center. Towards my left, I can see a small bonfire, smoke and fireworks going off. In any other time, I would think it’s teenagers during Halloween. My colleague then chipped in that he hears fireworks in his home every night, so nothing out of the ordinary.

We then walked through Moore street, take a left on Henry Street, then Right into O’Connell street. At that time, Garda has closed up O’Conness street coming from the river. Foot traffic on that road is still busy. Long story short, things look under control. Other that traffic diversion, looks like a normal busy day in Dublin.

We then walked to Grafton Street where we were supposed to meet the rest of the folks. After an hour and no one showing up, we went to have dinner and left around 9pm.

Part 2 of my experience with Dublin Riots