Several homemade incendiary devices have been seized by gardaí following searches close to the site of the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, Dublin.
Gardaí said they recovered seven glass and plastic bottles containing flammable liquid last Tuesday, close to the site of protests in Coolock.
Since last Thursday, fires have broken out at the site every day.
In a statement gardaí said: "Plastic bottles containing a mixture of paint and oil as well as packets of water balloons were also recovered.
"All of the incendiary devices and material seized has been sent for further technical examination and analysis."
Searches of "grass areas" were conducted by members of the R District Drugs Unit and the Coolock District Detective Unite in the Moatfield Avenue and Dunree Park areas.
"An Garda Síochána respects the right for citizens to exercise their constitutional rights; this right does not extend to breaches of criminal law, the interference with the rights of other citizens to carry out their daily activities, or to attack members of An Garda Síochána," the force said in a statement.
It added that it is in the process of collating footage from CCTV and social media of the events of last Monday.
An incident room has been established at Coolock Garda Station and gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed these incidents to come forward.
"Anyone who may have observed incendiary devices being gathered or persons in possession of such material is asked to come forward," gardaí said.
Gardaí have 'not learned anything' from November riots
Meanwhile, a former assistant commissioner with the force has said An Garda Síochána "has not learned anything" from riots in Dublin last November.
Three gardaí were injured and one person was arrested following clashes at the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, Dublin on Friday night.
There have also been a number of fires at the site, which has been earmarked for housing asylum seekers.
Twenty-one people were arrested and have been charged with public order offences over clashes between protesters and gardaí at the site last Monday.
The Garda Representative Association has said it is seeking a meeting with senior Garda management following on from the clashes in Coolock.
The organisation has said its frontline officers are not being adequately protected.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, former assistant commissioner Michael O'Sullivan said a section of gardaí need to be upskilled and issued with helmets.
He also said that the force has learned nothing since the riots which broke out in Dublin city centre in November 2023.
"They could have issued them with helmets, they could have started a process of training for public order because these types of incidents ... are going to continue," Mr O'Sullivan said.
"You cannot ask people to put themselves in harm's way, very courageously, and duck and dive when rocks come flying through the air."
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Mr O'Sullivan said there is no permanent public order unit within the gardaí, which affects the time it can take gardaí to respond to these kinds of incidents.
"You just can't press a switch and a public order unit will arrive in 20 minutes, hence the delays, and hence the injuries, and the confusion and chaos," he said.
He added that those involved in clashes with gardaí were "criminal thugs" with no political affiliations, and a distinction had to be made between rioters and legitimate peaceful protestors.
"These guys basically travel to wherever the next row is to cause mayhem, to injure policemen and women, and to damage police vehicles and to set fires," Mr O'Sullivan said.
