A horrified witness to a violent attack on a woman who was going for a run by the Liffey this week has called for steps to be taken to ensure women’s safety.
Nicola, who shared a video of part of the incident on Twitter, told Gript that she and three other women were out for a run by the Liffey when they heard terrified screams from a woman who was being attacked by a man on the other side of the water.
She said she and her friends were horrified to witness a man “holding a woman by the hair – she had fallen to her knees – and punching and kicking her.”
“It was horrific, really terrifying,” she said. “We all started screaming at him because we couldn’t reach them as we were across the water, and he must have let go a little because the woman managed to tear herself free and get away.”
She said that the man did not make any attempt to run away even as he was being videoed, and in fact, remained at the spot until Gardai arrived. The attack happened on Tuesday morning at approximately 10.20 am, the witness to the incident said.
Source: Nic8929 on Twitter
Nicola said that Gardai took an hour to arrive on the scene – and that she was shocked to learn that the assailant, who she said she believed to be non-Irish, was later freed on bail.
She also said that she told the Gardaí: “I don’t understand why you aren’t warning people, a lot of women run by the river because they think it’s safe”.
She said the Gardaí’s answer was that they did not want to be involved in “scaremongering”.
“Is the government more worried about “scaremongering” than women’s safety?” she asked. “People need to know that a woman was attacked. Women need to be safe.”
“A woman was violently attacked, and apparently the person has been let back out on the streets,” she said.
On the issue of delay in the arrival of Gardai, she said her criticism was aimed at the government.
“Why are they bringing in so many people when they don’t have the manpower to deal with incidents like this,” she said. “There are so many new arrivals coming here and we don’t know who they are, they are destroying their identities, we need tighter restrictions.”
“The Gardai said they didn’t have the manpower to send someone straight away – that’s the Minister’s fault, she needs to do something.”
Justice Minister Helen McEntee spoke in 2022 about the need to make tackling violence against women a priority.
Gardaí told Gript that they had been “alerted to an alleged assault that occurred at Liffey Valley Park, St. Laurence’s Road, Ballyfermot on Tuesday morning 27th June, 2023 at approximately 10.20a.m.”
“A female, aged in her 30s, was assaulted by a male. Gardaí attended the scene and arrested a male, aged in his 20s where he was taken to a Garda station in Dublin. He has since appeared before Criminal Courts of Justice, on the afternoon of Tuesday 27th June, 2023,” they said.
An Garda Síochana also said that it was not their policy to release the name of any suspected offenders, that they would not comment on the residency of any individual, nor on the issue of bail.
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