The US Bureau of Counterterrorism's Country Reports on Terrorism 2023, published in December, highlights the November 2023 riots in Dublin as a form of terrorism.
The riots in Dublin in November 2023 are featured in a section of the US report entitled “White-Identity Terrorism/Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism."
The report states: “In November [2023], Irish white supremacists and ultranationalists online spread disinformation regarding the nationality of a stabbing suspect arrested after stabbing two adults and three children.
“This anti-immigrant disinformation led to three days of white supremacist rioting in Dublin, inuring police and bystanders.”
November 23, 2023: Scenes from the "serious public disorder" in Dublin. (RollingNews.ie)
On November 23, 2023, three young children and their caregiver were hospitalized following a serious assault in Dublin's Parnell Square East near Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire.
November 23, 2023: Scenes following the knife attack on Dublin's Parnell Square East. (RollingNews.ie)
The evening of the knife attack, what An Garda Síochána continues to describe as "serious public disorder" erupted in Dublin City Centre.
Ultimately, several vehicles were damaged, 13 properties were attacked and substantially damaged, and a number of members of An Garda Síochána were injured, including one who was seriously injured and received treatment in hospital.
November 23, 2023: Scenes from the "serious public disorder" in Dublin. (RollingNews.ie)
About a month after the disorder, Riad Bouchaker, who was also hospitalized following the Parnell Square East incident, was charged with eight offenses in connection with the knife attack. Bouchaker remains in custody as he awaits his trial, which has been postponed from this month pending a report from a neuropsychologist.
34 people were initially arrested, though An Garda Síochána announced on Friday, January 10 that that figure has now risen to 65 after a woman in her 30s was arrested and detained.
According to the US terrorism report, the Dublin riots were one of the known "White-Identity Terrorism (WIT)" attacks in 2023, which also included neo-Nazi attacks in Brazil, Hungary, and the US, as well as a bomb attack in Mexico where the perpetrator left a message with a swastika.
Terrorism in Northern Ireland
Meanwhile, a section dedicated in the massive report to the United Kingdom discusses terrorism in Northern Ireland.
The UK section notes that in March 2023, the threat level in Northern Ireland was raised from "substantial" to "severe."
The report goes on to state that there were two terrorist incidents in the UK in 2023, one of which was in Northern Ireland in February when masked gunmen shot off-duty PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell. The New IRA claimed responsibility for the attack, the report says, which led to three men being charged with attempted murder.
The section goes on to note that as per the Independent Reporting Commission's annual report, issued in December 2023, "there were no security-related deaths in Northern Ireland in 2023, the first time for a calendar year since records began in 1969, according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland."
The Independent Reporting Commission's report, however, "identified Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries as consistent threats in Northern Ireland."
Indeed, the US continued to designate the Continuity Irish Republican Army and New Irish Republican Army, based in both the UK and Ireland, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2023.
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