Latest news with #GardaYouthDiversionProgramme
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- RTÉ News
Investigation into incident at Dublin city schoolyard
A teenager was arrested and a garda investigation is under way after an incident in a schoolyard in Dublin's south inner city this week. According to eyewitnesses, a teenage boy wielding a knife chased a man on to the grounds of St James's Primary School on Basin View lane in Dublin 8, and punched and threatened him, before being confronted by staff at the school who managed to get the boy out of the schoolyard. The teenager returned with an older woman a few minutes later and shouted obscenities at the man, who is a foreign national. He also shouted "Dublin 8 says no". Three weeks ago an encampment was set up close to the school on Basin View, by anti-immigration protesters who are objecting to the opening of a second IPAS centre on the lane. Under tricolours, protesters have hung a large banner which reads 'D8 says no'. This is the name those involved have given to their campaign. The encampment is close to two primary schools and one secondary school on the narrow city thoroughfare which is nestled between the new children's hospital and the Guinness complex. Signs have also been hung which say 'Keep our children safe'. The attack at the school took place shortly before 9pm on Wednesday morning and was witnessed by a number of children who had yet to enter the school building, as well as their parents. According to eyewitnesses the boy shouted about 'paedophiles' as he attacked the man. It is understood that the man was waiting outside the school as a friend who was with him dropped off his child. Gardaí, including the Armed Support Unit, attended the scene and the boy was arrested a short time later and detained before being released. An Garda Síochána said: "Gardaí attended the scene of an alleged assault and public order incident at Basin Street, Dublin 8 on Wednesday 28th May 2025 at approximately 8.45am. "A male youth was arrested in relation to the incident. He has since been released and a file will now be prepared for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme." Under the Children's Act it is for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme to decide whether or not the file should be sent on to the DPP for prosecution in the courts. Gardaí say their investigation is ongoing. The anti-immigration encampment is directly beside and facing the entrance to a second primary school, Canal Way Educate Together. It is outside a premises which is currently being converted into residential accommodation with a view to housing asylum seekers. An adjacent building already houses around 20 people seeking International Protection. Wednesday's attack follows rising tensions locally over recent weeks as a result of the encampment and concern as to its potential impact. Protest 'hijacked', locals say Locals say the protest was originally established by local parents who are opposed to a second Direct Provision centre opening on the lane and say the area has been neglected for too long and has very few services, but locals say this original protest has been "hijacked" by others with sinister motives. "The protest has been hijacked by people who are trying to stir up hate and racism and this [attack] is a direct result of their actions," one person told RTÉ News. "That innocent gentleman who was just waiting for another parent was attacked and could have been stabbed or badly injured," they added. Speaking about the encampment a parent said: "It's absolutely intimidating. There's dogs, there's drugs - you can smell the stench of weed. The whole thing is absolutely intimidating for children and families." Of the attack that took place in the schoolyard on Wednesday the parent said: "Everybody is rattled". Also on Wednesday, a number of local organisations, including Basin View's two primary schools, met to discuss their concerns about rising tensions. The meeting was arranged before the attack happened. On Thursday, the organisations jointly published a leaflet. The leaflet states: "We are concerned by the small minority who intimidate children, parents, teachers, and workers. We want this intimidation to stop we want to work with you to make it stop. "We are writing this because we care about the safety of our community and believe that misinformation, hate and violence have no place here. We believe everyone here deserves to be safe, no matter the color of their skin." Warning that what is happening is "hurting children", the leaflet says: "Fear, lies and panic spread very easily on social media, and lead to people being targeted based on the color of their skin."
Sunday World
05-05-2025
- Sunday World
Arrest in Wexford after teen allegedly stabbed at children's playground
The incident, involving a number of teenagers, happened in a children's playground adjacent to the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy A young male was arrested following an alleged stabbing incident which took place in Co Wexford over the Bank Holiday weekend. The incident, involving a number of teenagers, happened in a children's playground adjacent to the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford on Saturday, May 3. Thousands of people were in the town over the weekend for the 10th annual Rockin' Food and Fruit Festival when the alleged stabbing incident took place. A video has been widely circulating of the incident across social media, which appears to show a teenager, believed to be a 14-year-old boy, being stabbed repeatedly with an implement. Stock image. Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 5th Now, a spokesperson for Gardai in Enniscorthy has confirmed that they are currently investigating the incident that took place in the playground beside the Riverside Park Hotel and that the injured youth received medical attention for his non-life threatening injuries. Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses, dash cam or mobile phone footage in relation to this incident to further the investigation. A garda statement said: 'Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault that took place on the Promenade in Enniscorthy, Wexford, on the afternoon of Saturday, 3rd May 2025. "A male youth sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the course of the incident and was taken to Wexford General Hospital for treatment. "One male youth was later arrested in connection with the incident and has since been released pending referral to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. "Investigations remain ongoing.' This article was edited on Monday, May 5 to reflect that one male youth was arrested and subsequently released pending referral to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme
Irish Independent
05-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Arrest in Wexford following alleged stabbing of teenager at children's playground
The incident, involving a number of teenagers, happened in a children's playground adjacent to the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford on Saturday, May 3. Thousands of people were in the town over the weekend for the 10th annual Rockin' Food and Fruit Festival when the alleged stabbing incident took place. A video has been widely circulating of the incident across social media, which appears to show a teenager, believed to be a 14-year-old boy, being stabbed repeatedly with an implement. Now, a spokesperson for Gardai in Enniscorthy has confirmed that they are currently investigating the incident that took place in the playground beside the Riverside Park Hotel and that the injured youth received medical attention for his non-life threatening injuries. Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses, dash cam or mobile phone footage in relation to this incident to further the investigation. A garda statement said: 'Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault that took place on the Promenade in Enniscorthy, Wexford, on the afternoon of Saturday, 3rd May 2025. "A male youth sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the course of the incident and was taken to Wexford General Hospital for treatment. "One male youth was later arrested in connection with the incident and has since been released pending referral to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. "Investigations remain ongoing.'
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Irish Times
Almost 200 children were responsible for 10 or more criminal cases each in one year
Almost 200 children in the State racked up 10 or more cases each in a single 12-month period, latest Garda figures show. Another 588 children accumulated between four and nine cases each over the course of a year. More than 1,500 had either two or three cases. The figures are contained in the newly published 2023 annual report by the monitoring group for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. When a person under 18 admits to a crime they are automatically referred to the Youth Diversion Programme for assessment and possible inclusion. READ MORE The programme is designed to keep children out of the criminal justice system and usually ends with young offenders being issued with a caution instead of a criminal conviction. However, if a child is deemed not suitable, they are typically prosecuted as normal in the Children Court. Just over 15,800 children were referred to the programme in 2023, with 1,200 being deemed not suitable for inclusion. The latest figures show that a relatively small number of children are responsible for a large proportion of offences which come to Garda attention. Around 3 per cent (197) of children assessed by the programme had been referred 10 or more times in 2023. Of these, 92 per cent were boys. Each referral may include more than one charge. The figure does not include referrals made in previous years. In total, 29 per cent of children assessed by the programme received more than one referral by gardaí during the year. Children who receive more than one referral are far more likely to be rejected by the programme and therefore prosecuted in the criminal courts, the figures show. While the total number of referrals remained broadly consistent with previous years, there were large increases in some offending categories. There were 643 cases of burglary in 2023, a 43 per cent increase on the previous year. Theft-type offences were the most common offence type. There were 4,971 such referrals in 2023, a 5.3 per cent increase. Robbery and driving-under-the-influence offences increased by 9 and 18 per cent respectively. There were 18 cases of young people transmitting harmful communications. This was made an offence in 2022 under what was known as Coco's law, which was designed to tackled 'revenge porn' and online harassment. Cases involving public order offences fell by 13 per cent to 2,284. Drug offences dropped 14 per cent to 1,607. The monitoring group expressed concern about a 45 per cent drop in 'restorative justice cautions'. These are designed to give the young offenders an insight into their crimes and often involve meetings with victims. The group noted the drop in such cautions was partly down to victims not engaging with the process or offenders withdrawing their admission of responsibility. Further training was promised to address the fall in such cautions.
Sunday World
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Sunday World
Teenager arrested by gardai investigating last year's Coolock riots
Gardai say the investigation into the 'serious public order incident' on the Malahide Road last July is continuing The former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, north Dublin, which was at the centre of a protest over plans to redevelop it to house asylum seekers (Niall Carson/PA) A teenager has been arrested by gardai investigating the Coolock riots that broke out in Dublin last year. Gardai say the investigation into the 'serious public order incident' on the Malahide Road last July is continuing. 'This brings the total number of arrests to date in this investigation to 40,' a Garda spokesperson said. 'The male adult teenager was detained for questioning under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at Garda station in North Dublin. 'He has since been released pending referral to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. The former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, north Dublin, which was at the centre of a protest over plans to redevelop it to house asylum seekers (Niall Carson/PA) Today's News in 90 seconds - Thursday, May 1 'Investigations are ongoing.' The site on the Malahide Road has been the scene of considerable unrest over plans to develop the former Crown Paints factory located there into accommodation for international protection applicants and Ukrainians who have fled the war in their home country. The government have previously said they plan to house up to 500 international protection applicants in the former factory in Coolock. For months, groups of protestors had camped outside the site and held a number of demonstrations condemning the plan to house asylum seekers in the building.
