The Garda Representative Association has said protestors need to be threatened with water cannon if there is further unrest outside Citywest this evening. 

Over two nights of violence, five Gardaí have been injured and 23 people have been arrested. 

Hundreds of Gardaí have been deployed to the area around the State owned hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers. 

Last night, the Garda water cannon was kept on standby but at no point used. 

On Lunchtime Live, Garda Representative Association Deputy General Secretary James Morrisroe said it was time to “get tough” if the violence continues. 

 “I have to say I was very disappointed listening to a lot of media reports this morning and the injured members are an afterthought,” he said. 

“I want to be very clear on this; the GRA are certainly calling for a far more robust response. 

“We simply cannot be asking unarmed frontline members, in uniform, to be society’s punchbags and target practice for violent thugs to get their kicks and their social media clicks - it can’t go on.” 

A Garda van burns outside the Citywest Hotel. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie

Mr Morrisroe continued that he believes that the “sole intention of those rioters is to cause injuries to our members”.

“We will be calling for the Public Order Unit to [be] out front and centre from the off - a far more robust response,” he said. 

“Actually, we will be calling for the water cannon not to be in the background as well.” 

Mr Morrisroe added that the water cannon is “there for a reason”. 

“We have to get tough, we have to be more robust and we cannot allow any other members to be injured,” he said. 

“I mean, having members in uniform with no protective gear on them, facing bottles and bricks, that cannot go on.” 

The use of the Garda water cannon is a matter for the incident commander on the ground at the time.

Main image: A Garda van burns outside the Citywest Hotel in west Dublin. Picture by: RollingNews.ie.