Hundreds of workers gathered in Dublin city centre this afternoon in a show of solidarity following last week's violence and unrest in the capital.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) General Secretary Owen Reidy said the vigil on O'Connell Street was about showing "solidarity with all the people of the capital and to clearly denounce this violence and riotous behaviour in a solemn and respectful way."
"We condemn in the strongest terms the unacceptable and outrageous thuggery witnessed on the streets of our capital city and pay tribute to our wonderful gardaí, firefighters, ambulance personnel, local authority workers and our transport workers in how they have responded," he added.
"They are an example of public service," Mr Reidy said.
ICTU warned that the looting and vandalism carried out on Thursday night has the potential to damage business and leave some workers in the retail and hospitality sectors in the city centre facing lay offs or possibly losing their livelihoods.
Mr Reidy also said that "many workers from a migrant background" had expressed concern about returning to work in the city in the wake of Thursday night's violence.
He said: "Our bottom line is that every worker, whoever they are, has a right to health and safety, they have a right to go home at the end of their work unharmed.
"We also want to send a message that the xenophobic and racist nature of some of the violence last week does not represent us, we have to reject that.
"Whether you were born in this city or whether you were born anywhere in the world, if you live and work here you are part of our community."
Mr Reidy again expressed solidarity with the children and childcare worker who were attacked on Parnell Square last Thursday, and with their families.
A five-year old girl and the care worker remain in a serious condition in hospital.
Mr Reidy said that there were people who "exploited and used and manipulated" those events "and we need to reject that".
"There are challenges, but what we saw last Thursday night was not the answer," Mr Reidy said.
There was a visible garda presence during the vigil.
Off-camera a small number of onlookers criticised RTÉ News' coverage of the event and of migration issues.
'I want to feel safe' - Dublin Bus Driver
Among those to address the crowd was Dublin Bus driver and SIPTU member Christian Tei, who described the events that unfolded on Thursday as "very scary" adding that colleagues "were afraid for their own lives".
He said that he was "one of the lucky ones" as he was finished his shift on Thursday and was back in the safety of his own home when the rioting began.
Four Dublin Bus vehicles were burned during the rioting.
Speaking to RTÉ News, he described how one of his colleagues was "removed from a bus, attacked, verbally abused and punched."
"Why? Because his skin was different than other people's skin? It's not fair," Mr Tei said.
"I'm a bus driver for nearly seventeen years, I live in Ireland for more than twenty years, I am an Irish citizen, yes I was born in Romania, but I can proudly say that Ireland is my home," he added.
However, he admitted that he too has been both physically and verbally abused while at work.
"It's part of our job, things like that unfortunately happen," Mr Tei said.
But he said that the violence witnessed on Thursday was unlike anything he had seen before.
He said: "The reason that I wanted to speak out today was because I want to make sure that things like that will never never happen again.
"I want to come to work like everybody else, I want to go home like everybody else and I don't want to bring things that happen at work back home, I want to feel safe."
'It is my country as well and no one has the right to take it away from me'
When we met Banessa Paszkowska she was talking with colleagues from Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, where she is working on a student placement programme.
A member of the Irish Roma Community, Ms Paszkowska also works at Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, which was also represented at the vigil.
However, she told RTÉ News that her attendance was also motivated by very personal reasons.
"I feel personally attacked" Ms Paszkowska said, after messages circulated on social media last week urging people to target members of the Roma ethnic group in Ireland.
"I think that needs to be acknowledged," Ms Paszkowska said, "Roma racism is the one that is the most accepted, unfortunately, in Europe".
"Dehumanising one set of people, it's shocking and that doesn't represent Ireland, I love Ireland, I consider myself Irish, I was born in Ireland, you know, I am Roma and Irish," she added.
"I love this country, it is my country as well and no one has the right to take it away from me," Ms Paszkowska said.
Ms Paszkowska said that some within the Roma Community now felt forced to "hide" their ethnicity by choosing not to wear their traditional clothing.
She said her mother was among them and described how "it is the first time seeing her in jeans".
"She always wears her cultural clothes and it was really weird and sad to see her not in her traditional attire," Ms Paszkowska said.
Additional reporting: Brian O'Donovan
