Dublin Riots

Isme: ‘Dublin retailers don’t fear immigrants, they fear thugs’

The small and medium enterprise business group has said increasing violence in the city was targetting shop staff

The debris from broken windows of the Holiday Inn Express on Cathal Brugha Street, in Dublin, the morning after violent scenes unfolded in the city centre. Picture: PA

Isme, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, has said that the level of violence in Dublin city centre last night was not a surprise to many retail workers in the capital.

Neil McDonnell, chief executive of the trade group, said: “Retail staff are not afraid of immigrants, they are afraid of unrestrained thuggery, violence and theft that occurs daily in their stores.”

McDonnell said that a recent meeting between retail representatives with Neale Richmond, ...