Gardaí removed five of the 99 images people they want to tell about the Dublin riots last November on their website. An Garda Síochána said the aim of the mass publication was to exclude or include people in ongoing criminal investigations.

“The Garda Síochána have received a very significant public response to this appeal for information,” she said, adding that they had removed “five images” because “these ‘persons of interest’ have now been identified.” .

“The Garda Síochána does not at this time confirm the role of any of these individuals in the events of 23 November 2023 and it should not be assumed that identification signifies criminal involvement in these events,” the statement said.

They said images of the remaining 94 “persons of interest”, initially released Tuesday morning, would remain on their website.

Chief Superintendent Patrick McMenamin, who heads police in north central Dublin, said earlier that the Garda was determined to continue its investigation “until every person we have identified as playing a role is brought to justice in court.”

“The images were taken from CCTV footage obtained during the investigation. These photos are of excellent quality. However, we have not yet identified these people with certainty,” he said.

The Garda “will not give up until we have achieved our objective of bringing to justice everyone involved in the events of November 23 last year”.

Chief Supt McMenamin added that the process of arresting people charged over the past 12 months continued last week, with a further six arrests made. However, the investigation “was always going to be a process that required considerable time and effort and that time and effort was beginning to pay off.” And he believed more arrests would follow following the release of the images on Tuesday.

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A special ‘contact’ tool is included with each photograph and members of the public can send names of suspects without having to submit their own names or email addresses.

This public appeal, involving the release of such a large number of images, is the first time this tactic has been deployed by the Garda. British police forces regularly launch public appeals for information based on the distribution of batches of so-called “thieves’ gallery” photographs.

The footage was gathered from CCTV footage recorded in central Dublin during the riots on November 23 last year. Gardaí are also urging anyone who sees themselves in the footage to contact the force to discuss it.

Garda sources said it was very possible that some of the people captured in the footage would be identified, questioned and excluded from their investigations.

To date, Gardaí have arrested and charged 57 people for crimes relating to the Dublin riots, with these suspects having been found guilty or still facing a total of almost 150 charges. To date, 14 of the suspects have been convicted.

During the night of rioting – sparked by children being stabbed outside a north inner city school but which quickly spread as recreational violence – some 28 vehicles were destroyed by arson or criminal damage.

This included: one Luas tram destroyed by fire, three Dublin buses destroyed by fire, six Dublin buses subject to criminal damage, 15 Garda vehicles subject to criminal damage, two Dublin Fire Brigade vehicles subject to criminal damage criminal damage and a private car destroyed by fire.

In total, 66 premises or places of business suffered criminal damage and 13 members of An Garda Síochána were injured.