A street confrontation between immigrants and Irish people was sparked after a Nigerian was told "leave here, nigger", a court heard yesterday.
Charges against four men were dismissed under the Probation Act after they admitted their part in the incident, in which a group of African and Irish people squared up to one another in Dublin's Parnell Street on April 30th last year.
Bottles were thrown and snooker cues brandished but gardai arrived before anything serious happened, Dublin District Court heard.
Gerard Loftus (40), Mountainview Court, Gareth Rynne (18), Abbeydale Rise, Lucan, Raymond Collins (38), Matt Talbot Court and Remi Oriyomi Abdul Azeez (37), of Ballycullen, all Dublin, pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
Judge David Anderson dismissed the charges after he was told the defendants had no prior convictions and that relations between the two communities had been repaired.
Det Sgt Walter O'Sullivan told the court Azeez had parked his car in Parnell Street, near the Blue Lion pub, as the other three men were walking by.
Rynne, who had been drinking earlier, said: "Charlie, ecstasy, cocaine" to Azeez, and this sparked a harsh exchange of words. When Rynne then said, "Leave here, nigger", Azeez "took exception" and armed himself with a snooker cue from a nearby establishment.
He was joined by a number of other Africans and at the same time, a number of natives came out of the Blue Lion.
A stand-off lasted for about five minutes with bottles "thrown back and forth", although none connected. Gardai arrived within a few minutes and both groups dispersed on hearing the squad car sirens.
Apologies were made the next day and "peace and harmony was restored", Sgt O'Sullivan said.
Judge Anderson warned Rynne he had "better learn sense" and be careful about what he said in future.