Shoppers - and dozens of gardaí - mix on Dublin's O'Connell Street just 48 hours after the riots

Less than 48 hours after the worst unrest seen in the capital in living memory, there were precious few signs on Dublin’s O’Connell Street on Saturday afternoon that anything had happened at all.

The site of the burnt out bus at the top of the street had been scrubbed almost completely clean.

Less concealed was the location of a torched Garda car on Parnell Street – the incident which truly kicked off Thursday night’s mayhem – where the tarmac was visibly scorched and damaged.

Around the corner, flowers had been placed at the entrance to Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East, with a note praying for the wellbeing of the four victims of the horrific stabbing at the school’s home-time last Thursday afternoon.

Nearby, the Holiday Inn on Cathal Brugha Street was boarded up, the Asics store next to Easons on the main thoroughfare likewise.

And the Abbey Street entrance of Arnotts, one of Dublin’s best known retail stores, was shut off, though inside the shop was chockablock with customers.

People walk past the boarded up Asics store on O’Connell Street, in Dublin following violent scenes in the city centre on Thursday evening. Picture: David Young/PA Wire

People walk past the boarded up Asics store on O’Connell Street, in Dublin following violent scenes in the city centre on Thursday evening. Picture: David Young/PA Wire

Everywhere else it was a Christmas shopping day on the northside, and the whole place bustled with activity – not the relentless scrum of the fortnight before Christmas Day, but very definitely a day of retail therapy.

A heightened Garda presence was probably the greatest indicator that things are still not where they should be, though it was subtle enough.

For those familiar with the street though, the presence was very noticeable, with gardaí travelling in packs of three and four, and dotted at intervals along the street.

But there were no scenes of aggravation, nothing along the lines of the previous evening, when a massive presence and a definite lowering of the force’s tolerance for instances of anti-social behaviour in the city was noted.

Any doubts as to how ready the gardaí were for action were quelled just after 1pm as soon as an impromptu set of contrasting protests reared their heads.

On one side a group describing themselves as Grandfathers against Racism, on the other about 15 protesters, with signs saying ‘house the Irish, not the world’.

As soon as the silent standoff began, at least 30 gardaí flooded the area, and formed a human cordon between the two groups, leaving no opportunity for aggravation.

After about an hour the grandfathers exited the scene, their job done. Slowly, the counter-protesters ebbed away in dribs and drabs.

Flowers left close to the scene where a serious stabbing incident took place on Parnell Square East in Dublins city centre on Thursday. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

Flowers left close to the scene where a serious stabbing incident took place on Parnell Square East in Dublins city centre on Thursday. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

It was the evening and darkness that people feared, with multiple outlets announcing their intention to shut at 7pm. That was when the Garda presence, consisting of an additional 100 officers, would be making its presence most known.

With two large-scale events with thousands of attendees due to take place – Munster v Leinster at the Aviva Stadium and Katie Taylor’s fight at the 3Arena – no chances were going to be taken.

It seemed the far right knew this too – Saturday wasn’t going to be for them, going by the low-key nature of the usual social media portals were they sound their rallying cries.

But what happened on Thursday night hadn’t been forgotten, with Muslim commentator Shaykh Dr Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri telling the Irish Examiner that people of his faith in Dublin are literally shaking in fear – and had been advised not to go to the city for the next two or three days unless absolutely necessary.

“I could not have imagined this. I’ve seen it all over Europe, now it is in my city, I’m really shocked,” he said.

Meanwhile, far right observers the Hope and Courage Collective insisted that last week’s riots could have been avoided.

“It was without doubt a failure of policing and a failure to rein in social media chiefs allowing their platforms to be used as a megaphone for hate, lies, disinformation,” the group said in a statement.

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