A 20-year-old man who started a fire on a Luas tram during the Dublin riots has been remanded in custody after having his bail revoked at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Evan Moore, of Grangemore Road in Donaghmede, pleaded guilty to rioting, damaging a Luas by fire and damaging the windows of the tram on 23 November 2023.
Moore was spotted by gardaí at an anti-immigration protest the following May and admitted that he had been at the riots.
The November 2023 trouble broke out after a five-year-old girl was seriously injured in a stabbing on Parnell Square earlier that day. Two other children and a crèche worker were also hurt.
A 51-year-old man is before the courts charged with the attempted murder of the children and causing serious harm to the employee.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the Luas service was suspended for 24 hours and the damage to seats and wiring on the tram was estimated at just under €5 million.
The estimated cost of the clean up by Dublin City Council workers in the days after the riots was €159,000, while €115,000 worth of damaged was caused to property in the area.
A 12-minute video - a compilation of CCTV footage and videos on social media from the day - was played to the court.
It showed that Moore's involvement in the trouble lasted from 7.05pm to 7.40pm that day.
He could be seen on the footage moving a bin that was alight and bringing it onto the Luas before damaging windows on the tram.
Garda Detective Inspector Ken Hoare accepted in cross-examination by defence counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing that subsequent analysis of Moore’s phone found conversations with his mother in which she was asking her son to return home from town.
"Scumbags wrecking their own city," Moore’s mother messaged followed a minute later by "Get out before it is too late and something happens".
Then finally she messaged him: "Please, please leave Evan ... my heart is racing".
Det Insp Hoare agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that Moore’s parents found it "abhorrent" that their son was in the city centre that day and the messages on his phone "were reflective of his family’s attitude to him being there".
The garda told prosecution counsel Stephen Montgomery BL that a group of anti-immigrant protesters had gathered at the Garden of Remembrance at around 3.30pm following the earlier incident on Parnell Square.
At 4pm, a hostile group assembled at Cavendish Row, at the junction with O’Connell Street, and the Luas line was blocked by the gathering.
A total of 600 gardaí were deployed to deal with the riots and, at its height, it is estimated that 500 rioters were involved.
Det Insp Hoare confirmed that the trouble began with the burning of a garda vehicle.
A Luas was initially blocked at 4.40pm by around ten protesters who stopped it from passing onto O’Connell Street.
The passengers got off the tram, but the driver remained on it until the violence escalated. He was then removed for his own safety and the vehicle was locked.
Det Insp Hoare said the footage showed Moore damaging windows on the Luas at around 7.30pm before he and others brought materials onto the Luas from a bin that had been set on fire.
Gardaí viewed 17,000 hours of CCTV footage and identified over 100 suspect rioters.
In May 2024, during another anti-immigration protest, Moore was spotted by officers.
He was stopped and admitted that he had been in the city centre during the riots in November 2023.
His home was later searched and his phone seized for analysis.
He was arrested on 14 May 2024 and Moore identified himself on footage during interview.
He agreed that he had got "caught up in the moment", that he was ashamed of his behaviour and regretted his involvement.
Det Insp Hoare confirmed that Moore had no previous convictions and was aged 18 at the time of the trouble.
He agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that the riots were "one of the most shameful acts in Irish history".
He acknowledged that Moore made immediate admissions when he was stopped by gardaí during the May protest.
Det Insp Hoare agreed that there were different levels of criminality involved in the riots that had started on the back of "a horrific attack on a child".
He acknowledged that many young people had "been whipped up into a frenzy" by ill-informed "malignant narcissists" and "horrific racist commentary" on social media following the Parnell Square incident.
Det Insp Hoare accepted that Moore was one of those who fell into the category of being "whipped up" and influenced by others.
His mother, Karen Moore, told Mr Ó Dúnlaing that she had pleaded with her son to come home once she had learned he had gone into the city centre.
She said that she was disgusted, embarrassed and ashamed by his behaviour.
"He was always raised to respect the law and the gardaí," she added.
Ms Moore said that her son has completed an anti-racism course online and is an apprentice electrician.
Mr Ó Dúnlaing submitted that his client is from a stable family, has positive employment and is someone who could engage positively in society.
A letter of apology was handed to the court.
The senior counsel said Moore was also involved with his local GAA club and "can be a force for good".
Mr Ó Dúnlaing said his client was a "very impressionable young person" at the time of the riots who had been "swept up in anti-immigrant sentiment".
He asked for the case to be adjourned to allow for the preparation of a probation report.
Judge Orla Crowe said that such a report would be of assistance, adding that there were "particularly troubling aspects in the case".
She revoked Moore’s bail and remanded him in custody until 13 October for sentence.
The judge also ordered the preparation of a report from the Probation Service.
