Terry McGeehan SLICING THROUGH THE SPIN EVERY MONDAY Go on the attack against thuggery LIVING IN A STATE OF FEAR FOR TOO LONG
IT DOESN’T matter what spin the Government or the Garda top brass tries put on it — the truth is that Ireland has become a very violent place.
Yet another innocent young man was recently attacked and severely beaten in Dublin city centre.
David Browne from Kildare was punched and robbed by a group of six young thugs who broke his jaw in two places and stole his phone.
“I tried to grab it back and I was punched repeatedly in the jaw,” he said.
“I tried to run and they kicked my face many times.
“They demanded the passcode for my phone at knifepoint as I lay on the ground.”
David made his way to Pearse Street Garda Station in severe pain with his teeth “swimming around” in his head.
He now faces a liquid diet for six to eight weeks but feels he’s lucky not to have sustained brain damage.
This attack took place on Bachelor’s Walk — right smack in the centre of our capital city.
But where were An Garda Siochana when this was happening?
This question is even more relevant considering all the reassurances we were given after a similar assault on Olympic star Jack Woolley
in August 2021. The 22-year-old martial artist was walking along the Liffey boardwalk when “a gang of roughly 8-12 men and women in their 20s began violently attacking people along the boardwalk”.
“Unfortunately I was victim to these random attacks as I was just walking by, before I was punched in the face by one of these group members,” Jack said.
Blood
He was left lying on the boardwalk with his face and chest covered in his own blood.
At the time we were assured that Dublin City Centre was adequately policed.
Assistant Commissioner Anne-Marie Cagney even told us in October 2021 that “I can assure you that the city is not lawless” — adding that “I’d like to reassure our community that we do have high visibility throughout the city.”
With respect to the Assistant
Commissioner, where was the “high visibility” the night that David Browne was attacked?
And according to city centre businesses back 15 months ago, the city centre was in danger of becoming a no-go area for lawabiding citizens.
One prominent businessman called for a greater Garda presence.
“I’m here 12 years and I’ve never seen what’s going on in Dublin city centre, the likes of it.
“It’s not just the last couple of weeks, it’s the last six months or a year. “There’s gangs of youth, roaming around attacking people along the quays, up in Temple Bar.”
But it’s not just Dublin city centre but the rest of the country as well and every aspect of Irish society.
Assault
The gardai are being targeted,
hospital staff and patients are under threat, bus drivers have been attacked, farmers live in fear of trespassing gangs, gay people are constantly fearful of assault and women are afraid to go out alone or take public transport at night.
We now have a Fine Gael Taoiseach and a temporary Fine Gael Minister for Justice standing in for the permanent Fine Gael Minister for Justice who is on maternity leave — all members of a party that used to pride itself in maintaining law and order, the party that founded An Garda Siochana.
It’s time they stepped up then and made Ireland a safe place again to live, work and play without fear of a random fist in the face — or even worse.