A schoolgirl was “violently knocked to the ground twice” after a group of young men caused “mayhem” in Blanchardstown Library on Monday evening.
The aggression was caught on camera, where a young man shouting while running through the library violently assaults the schoolgirl knocking her to the ground.
He is then filmed knocking her to the ground again after she stands up, while the camera records others shouting and laughing.
Blanchardstown library earlier today pic.twitter.com/ifagVWHDTK
— Surge Arrester (@surgearrester1) January 30, 2023
Dublin Live reported that librarians and secondary school students were evacuated from the library following an incident on Monday. In photos circulated on social media, several young people then appeared to have accessed glass panels outside the library building.
Gardai attended the scenehttps://t.co/y3iutBqbNV
— DublinLive (@DublinLive) January 31, 2023
The witness told Dublin Live:
“Students were frightened and shocked and librarians were unable to take control of the situation.”
“Ambulances were present and gardaí later I have been told,” they added. A spokesman for Fingal County Council which runs Blanchardstown Library confirmed to Dublin Live that there was a “disturbance” at the library last night.
Local residents said that they were shocked at the violent and chaotic scenes.
“They’re are gangs of feral teenagers doing what they like in this area,” one woman told Gript. “No-one seems to want to control them, its like everyone is afraid of them.”
She said that in an area where school students struggled with a lack of facilities it was “horrible to see this violent chaos in the library where kids go to study.”
“These were thugs, what else would you call them?” she said. “Violently knocking a girl over twice and laughing about it. It’s disgusting.”
Others on Twitter called for the library to issue a full response and to safeguard school students attending the services.
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