Multiple Irish Rail passengers have contradicted claims made by Irish Rail regarding reports of mistreatment of animals on one of their trains last weekend.
One passenger who was onboard what has been described as a “nightmare” journey told Gript that he witnessed a group of up to 20 children “appear to torture” a variety of animals including chickens, ducks, a rooster, and a cat during the 17:00 train from Galway to Dublin Heuston last Sunday.
The passenger described the experience as “very scary” and “horrendous” – also stating that one of the minors in the group had a knife in his pocket, while others carried wooden bats.
When contacted, an Irish Rail spokesperson said that a number of unaccompanied minors appeared to have bought small chickens and other birds during an event in Ballinasloe. It said that there were reports of anti-social behaviour amongst adults and children, and that security attended a number of these.
“Specifically, a customer contacted an off-duty staff member they knew personally by phone alleging that there was mistreatment of animals on board by one group – the staff member alerted our central control who in turn alerted security on board. Security went through the train at Tullamore to address this (awaiting further details from our security contractor),” Irish Rail said.
While it said it would “of course investigate this further, and will respond directly to the customer complaint, and apologise again to customers for the upset experienced,” the rail company also said: “Two customers raised this at Heuston Station, however their complaint was that youths had brought birds on board, they did not report any issue of mistreatment.”
However, two more passengers onboard the train have said they witnessed the incident, and reported threats to animal safety. So far, none of the three passengers who contacted Gript said that a response had been received – either by Gardaí or Irish Rail in relation to the incident.
One passenger told Gript: “I just saw your article about the incident that happened on the train from Galway to Dublin last Sunday. I was on the train as well in carriage C where it all unfolded. I contacted the Irish Rail Anti Social Behaviour Line and the Gardai with no response. I have raised a complaint directly with Irish Rail and GSOC in relation to the lack of response and the threat to life and animal safety on the train.”
The customer told Gript they had boarded the train at Athenry, heading back to Dublin, and had reported animal mistreatment at Heuston Station, as well as repeatedly during the journey.
“In my carriage, there were around 12 of the gang. They brought in all the boxes with hens, roosters and puppies. One guy walked down the carriage with the puppies sitting right on top of his head. I tried to film the incident but one of them shouted, “She’s recording.” When I think back, they could have taken my phone.
“At one stage, they took a poor hen out of the box and the hen was crying out. It was awful. Another young man was walking up and down with a rooster. At another stage, they had two or three hens out on the floor with them. At a later time during the journey, another young guy in the group said really loudly, “I’m after breaking the hen’s neck.” The verbal stuff was just horrendous.”
“At another point, members of the group, who were around 14 or 15, were talking about which dogs they were going to set on which animal. It was horrendous.”
The passenger said that they desperately messaged a friend whose partner works for Irish Rail and was off-duty.
“He works in controls, but he had already finished work. He messaged the control area who contacted the driver. Security came in at Tullamore but were completely useless. Nothing was done. Someone from security got on, literally fast-walked through the carriage for about five minutes and got off again. In fairness, the boys were smart in that they put the animals back in the boxes at that stage. But the staff member sent to intervene didn’t even look around.”
When nothing was done at Tullamore, the passenger messaged the anti-social behaviour (emergency) contact number.
“I still have not received any reply from that number five days later. I’ve put that into my complaint.”
The customer messaged 112 or 999, and explained what was happening – that there were animals on the train and they were being mistreated.
“I was told on the phone that they would contact Gardaí and let them know. However, when I got to Heuston I was absolutely fuming because there was no Gardaí there. I went to the help desk and Heuston, and another couple came in behind me to complain, who had also had a horrible experience. It seemed to be brushed off.”
‘I KNOW THE GARDAI WON’T GET INVOLVED’
“I was really shaken from what we saw. I contacted the Gardaí myself afterwards also. I was just so angry. They told me they were really busy, but that’s no excuse. They told me they would send someone down, but at that stage everyone was gone from Heuston. I know the Gardaí won’t get involved, and it’s terrible that these young people can do whatever the hell they want and they’re untouchable. Even if they just came and seized the animals – I don’t care about the young lads at this stage – come and take the poor animals and take them into a shelter.”
The passenger has raised a complaint with An Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
“It’s not good enough that they ignored the complaint, and used the excuse that they were too busy. I’ve also raised a complaint with Irish Rail and the Minister for Transport. It’s not good enough that five days later, I’ve received no acknowledgement from Irish Rail having reported anti-social behaviour. No one has responded. I would love to know if Irish Rail actually did contact Gardai, because if they didn’t, that’s a serious breach.
“It’s terrible that in this day and age, young people can just get away with such awful behaviour and not be challenged whatsoever. If there are big events, more people are going to get on the train, including many without tickets, like these kids. It’s a total free for all. There should have been more security on,” the customer added.
“The other thing was also the horrible smell on the train. It was just horrendous, it smelt like a farmyard. In addition to that, the verbal things that were said were particularly horrendous. The group was trying to upset people. They knew what they were doing. I am glad people have come forward about this to highlight the lack of care from Irish Rail.”
The customer said it appeared the group were from Dublin, and that they were heading to another part of the city.
A second passenger said: “My daughter was on that train and in carriage C, she said it was horrendous what they were doing to the animals, on one occasion they tugged one of the chickens roughly and broke its neck and started laughing, another was blowing smoke into the duck’s mouth.
“They started jeering her and hitting their sticks off her legs and making sexualised comments towards her. She was so afraid to say anything back to them. They were about 12/13 years of age. Absolutely no one intervened from Irish Rail and she couldn’t even move out of her seat to go to another carriage until she got to Dublin. She said it was so frightening.”
Describing the scene, a man onboard the train told Gript earlier this week: “It was a huge group, the youngest being only 10 or 11, and the oldest being maybe 14.”
He believed them all to be boys and said “They were all congregating together while others were sitting in different seats in the same carriage, making a huge amount of noise. It was hard to believe. They had chickens, ducks, and a rooster. They also had a cat. You could hear the poor animal.”
“All the animals had been placed in these big cardboard boxes. They proceeded to take the animals out of the boxes and drag them around the place. They had a chicken on a leash, and they were dragging it up and down the aisle. They were literally throwing the animal around. The chicken was literally being thrown up and down.
“They had a lighter, and at one point, it appeared as though they were burning the animals with lighters, burning their feathers. This is hard to believe, but it is 100 per cent true. They were basically just abusing these animals, who were in obvious distress by the sounds they were making. It was vile.”
The passenger told Gript that he has reached out to a number of Government Ministers about the matter.
Irish Rail have been contacted for further comment on the incident.
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