Locals shocked as youths fight on Fermoy street

DISTURBING footage of young people openly fighting on a busy Fermoy street in broad daylight on Tuesday afternoon has been uploaded to social media.

Footage shot on mobile phones and seen by The Corkman clearly shows a group of youths fighting in full view of shocked passers-by on McCurtain Street before some of the young men run off down Abbey Street in the direction of Ashe Quay.

Another mobile phone clip shows youths engaged in a brawl at the former Marts site in the town.

The incidents have come following reports last week of a number of pre-arranged fights between children as young as 12 taking place in the town, with crowds of young onlookers gathering to watch the fights.

One local woman, who asked that she remain anonymous, witnessed the brawl on McCurtain Street as she was on her way to a meeting in a nearby coffee shop.

“As I was passing by I saw one young man being punched in the face It was a very violent attack by a number of youths on this one boy. He had a cut on his face and there was blood pumping out of his nose. I gave him some tissues and helped clean up the blood. I offered to take him to the medical hall for treatment but he refused,” said the woman.

“It was shocking to see this kind of thing taking place in broad daylight in the town. When you see this kind of thing going on I can understand why some people, particularly older people, might feel afraid walking down the town during the day,” she added.

The woman said it appeared to her that many of the young people involved in the fighting did not come from the town.

“While I was shocked to see the fight, I was not too surprised given the reports of pre-arranged fights and other anti-social behaviour that had been circulating around the town over recent days,” she said.

A Garda source told The Corkman that they are investigating reports of assaults that have been brought to their attention by members of the public over recent days.

“In addition, we have increased the number of local foot and mobile patrols at school finishing times and would ask members of the public to report any incidents of anti-social behaviour they may encounter,” said the source.

They said it was understood the incidents were not linked to any particular school in the town or that those involved come from any one geographical area.

“We have visited all of the local schools and staff in each of them are working to address the problem,” added the source.