Not surprisingly, the likes of Sinn Féin have demanded that both the government and Drew Harris should resign immediately. Normally, that could be dismissed as simply an opposition party trying to score cheap political points. But in this instance, they may have a point.

The Garda’s response was little short of pathetic and the images of cops retreating from the rioters were quickly shared online in a jubilant fashion. Even the most ardent civil libertarian would have known that this was a moment when the authorities should have clamped down hard, and quickly. Instead, when they were seen running away from the mob, it merely gave the trouble makers a free pass to continue to cause mayhem.

Events quickly spread across the river Liffey from the north inner city to the more salubrious environs of Dame Street and Grafton Street. There, Irish Independent reporter Adrian Weckler witnessed a group of teenage girls shouting “get Brown Thomas” (a swanky store).

There is a genuine fear that this was not merely an isolated eruption of criminality, but was instead an ominous indication of what is to come.

[The Garda made the same mistake that Minneapolis and Los Angeles made in their riots: retreating. To keep a violent protest from spiraling into a full-blown riot, police have to intervene immediately and disproportionately. Authorities in the 1992 LA riot and the 2020 Minneapolis-St. Paul riot refused to meet the need for leadership in a crisis, and the cities paid the price for it. — Ed]