WATCH – TD is shouted down in the Irish Parliament for raising public concerns about immigration after the Dublin riots: 'This is coming from ordinary people - the Irish people are not racist'

The debate in the Dail on Tuesday focussed on last Thursday’s rioting in Dublin city centre.

The rioting was sparked by rumours that an immigrant was behind the stabbing of three children and a school assistant in Dublin’s Parnell Square.

These rumours were confirmed by Irish premier Leo Varadkar yesterday, who acknowledged for the first time that the man had arrived in Ireland from overseas about 20 years ago and then been granted citizenship.

The children whom he allegedly stabbed were all aged either five or six, and one five-year-old girl is still in a serious condition in hospital.

Mr Varadkar noted that this girl’s parents were themselves immigrants, as were four of the “five or six people who intervened to stop the attack”.

The stabbing suspect, in his 40s, meanwhile remains “in a serious condition” under police guard in The Mater Hospital in Dublin.

Coming so soon after the conviction of Jozef Puska – a Slovak national of Roma descent who was living off disability benefits in Offaly – for the strangulation and stabbing murder of random 23-year-old Ashling Murphy, news of the stabbing has sparked a debate about immigration in the Republic of Ireland.

In the Dail on Tuesday, politicians from the country’s main parties responded by extolling the benefits of immigration and decrying the “far right”.

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Mr Varadkar condemned Thursday’s street disorder as an “ugly far-right protest on our streets led to a riot”, and that the violence in part was fuelled by “the language some people have used in Leinster House and beyond it in relation to migration”.

He told the Dail: “I want to make the case for migration and why it is a good thing for Ireland….

“Anybody who is an EU or EEA citizen has a right to live, work, study and do business in this country, just as we can in all of their countries too.

“That is what it means to be part of the European Union. I think the advantages of that outweigh the disadvantages manifold.”

He concluded that: “It is totally wrong to try to make out that there is a connection between crime and migration based on what happened on Parnell Street.”

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Particularly vocal on the subject was Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who said of the rioting in Dublin: “We know what is needed, and that is a stronger response against the far right and, crucially, more gardai.

"[We need] to see a real commitment from government to tackling and targeting the far right and ensuring intelligence-led policing is taking it on.”

When it came Mr Lowry’s turn to speak, he began by condemning the stabbing incident and the rioting, saying: “Those who swept through the city streets last week were not seeking justice for the school incident.

"They had been waiting in the wings for a reason to riot. They were ready for an opportunity to take the law into their own hands.”

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He then went on to say: “Recently in the Dail I addressed the Taoiseach on the resentment that is simmering in towns and villages across Ireland.

"This genuine and heartfelt anger is not coming from organised factions; it is coming from ordinary people.

"People are filled with pent-up worry, fear and frustration at how their communities have changed due to the influx of international protection applicants.

"It has reached the stage where people…”

Bacik: “This is the sort of language that just goes on to...”

Chairman: “Deputy Bacik, please.”

Aodhan O Riordain: “He cannot help it.”

Lowry: “...it has reached the stage where people fear the Department will target every vacant building in their communities. I want to say that the Irish people are not racist, and I am not racist.”

O Riordain: “Really? Go home and collect your money.”

Mr Lowry continued speaking, but there were further interruptions from Aodhan O Riordain, who called Mr Lowry a criminal – prompting Mr Lowry to call him a lout.