Shortly after 2.30pm last Tuesday a message was posted in a WhatsApp group for newly arrived international protection applicants (IPs).

The message warned of heightened tensions in the area around Citywest, home to the west Dublin accommodation centre for asylum seekers and Ukraine war refugees, advising that a protest was planned for that evening.

“We ask that everyone living in Citywest be back before 6.30pm,” wrote an Irish volunteer.

The same text was translated into Somali, Arabic, Pashto and Urdu – languages that reflected the broad mix of nationalities inside.

Similar advice was being shared among Ireland’s Ukrainian population in an attempt to alert residents in the former Citywest hotel complex that unrest was expected.

Samir*, a Pakistani man who arrived in Ireland three months ago seeking asylum and lives in the Citywest hotel and conference centre complex, was in his room when staff raised a security alert.

He could hear shouts from a crowd walking up the hotel avenue. By 7.30pm the sounds of fireworks and smashing glass, accompanied by the roar of more than 1,000 people being pushed back by the Garda riot squad, was unmistakable.

“We felt anxious and confused,” he told The Irish Times. “I was especially worried about my friends who were outside.”

His friends were among the group of men picked up from surrounding areas by local volunteers who jumped in their cars once they heard the protest was turning violent.

The men were brought to a nearby safe house where they watched the violence unfold on TikTok, the social media platfo