Latest news with #SeánDwyer
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Extra.ie
Tallaght teen shouted ‘we're off to get a foreigner' before vicious attack on Indian man
'We're off to get a foreigner,' one teenager was heard shouting to another after an unaware Indian man walked past a playground in a Dublin suburb last Saturday evening. The man, who had only arrived in Ireland a week previously after being brought over by Amazon because he is a specialist in his field, was on his way to a nearby temple to pray. He didn't pay much attention to the teenagers continued down the road almost 500 metres before he was suddenly and savagely set upon. The brutal attack is now being investigated as a possible hate crime by gardaí. Pic: KarlM Photography/Shutterstock The young father of an 11-month-old child was beaten, had his face slashed, was stripped naked from the waist down and had his phone and money taken. The teenagers made off with his clothes leaving him crawling half naked on the ground. Speaking to local mother Jennifer Murray spoke of how she came to the man's aid, put him in the recovery position, as it looked as if he was about to pass out, and reassured him he was not going to die. Jennifer Murray. Pic: Seán Dwyer Footage was taken of the attack by the teenagers involved and within seconds was shared on Snapchat to other teens in the area. The man was accused without any evidence of being a 'paedophile'. Jennifer Murray. Pic: Seán Dwyer The brutal attack, which happened along Parkhill Road, in Kilnamanagh, Tallaght, Dublin on Saturday at 6pm, is now being investigated as a possible hate crime by gardaí. Ms Murray told how the lie spread instantly around social media and how the victim was assaulted for a second time by another gang of teenagers and, also, grown men. One man got out of his car, walked over and punched him as Ms Murray tried to help the man. He also roared at the brave mother not to help him. The incident happened along Parkhill Road, in Kilnamanagh, Tallaght, Dublin on Saturday at 6pm. Pic: Seán Dwyer 'For that man to get up and come out on to a road looking for help to be further attacked is beyond the realms of understanding,' Ms Murray told 'Teenagers are stupid, their frontal lobes haven't developed, but the adults, grown men pulling over cars to go over and punch him is beyond comprehension.' She said the victim was 'in a terrible state'. Blood was dripping from his head and out of his nose as she tried desperately to help him. 'Then I realised they had stripped him. He was highly embarrassed. He had no clothes on and was giving me his name, address and company he worked for. I told him this never should have happened to you, you are important, your life is important.' Jennifer Murray. Pic: Leah Farrell/ Ms Murray said if she and another woman hadn't intervened she fears the man would have died. 'They did the initial damage of stabbing him, beating him, forcing his clothes off and robbing his phone. Then they robbed him of his dignity. They took his clothes, there were no clothes around where it happened. They didn't even leave his clothes so he could crawl and put them back on. They took his clothing with his phone and his money during the attack. 'Another woman was telling them to stop then I intervened. I think he was lucky we were there because, given the extent of his injuries, he easily could have been killed.' Ms Murray said she sat and reassured the man as they waited for gardaí and an ambulance. 'He was incredibly polite and incredibly brave. He trusted me which must have been so hard, after he was met with so much aggression. 'I didn't want him to think he was going to die. I was trying to reassure him he will be OK, even though he will probably never be OK again.' The man told gardaí he had been punched in the head, but injuries he sustained showed a blade was used on his face. One deep cut to his forehead was almost two inches long. The victim has been deeply traumatised and is experiencing problems with his vision. 'I am in touch with him every day since,' Ms Murray said this weekend. 'He is extremely traumatised. 'He is out of hospital, but back in most days because he is having trouble with his eyesight and for wound dressing. He will forever be physically scarred, but I think the mental scars will be more detrimental to him,' she said. Since the brutal attack, the man has stayed mostly in his bedroom. He doesn't feel comfortable around more than two people at any one time. 'That's his limit and the whole PTSD crowd thing kicks in and he has to go back into his room. 'I have found an Indian psychotherapist to work with him when he is ready. He needs this as much as he needs medical treatment. 'At the moment he genuinely needs to be on his own, he is completely traumatised,' she said. Ms Murray told how the man has been shielded from the lies spread about him. She doesn't want to tell him he was attacked is because of the colour of his skin. 'How do you tell someone who is completely innocent that this is why that happened to him?' she asked. 'He won't understand why this is being said about him and then you have to explain it's because of the colour of your skin. And that's the real truth. He was first attacked because he was Indian and then further attacked because of the lies that were spread about him.' A woman who saw and heard the teenage gang target the victim has come forward to gardaí, but she doesn't want to be identified out of fear for her own safety. Ms Murray told this woman was in the playground with her child when she saw the gang nearby. They weren't causing trouble and she didn't feel overly intimidated by them. She noticed the Indian man walk past. Nothing was said to the man at the time, but as he walked away the gang split. 'Where are you going?' asked one of the teenage gang. Another said: 'We're off to get a foreigner.' The woman is 'riddled with guilt' because she didn't intervene before it was too late. 'She didn't expect a group of teenagers to go from a group of messers to a group of potential murderers in minutes,' said Ms Murray. 'The guards were here with me on Tuesday for three or four hours and they said: 'This is not normal'. 'Aside from the attack, the verbal abuse and the hatred surrounding him as he lay bleeding on the ground is simply a product of an untruth. 'This man was just out for a walk.'
Extra.ie
04-05-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
I'm off home now ...to the car park -- campervan owners enjoying rural pubs taxi free
Campervan owners are parking up at rural pubs to enjoy a night out free of taxis and pricey beds, while more premises are looking to accommodate them to compensate for a dwindling trade. It comes as reported last week that the number of campervans registered in Ireland exceeded 20,000 for the first time last year. With Ireland criticised by motorhome owners for a lack of facilities compared to continental Europe, pubs around the country are offering their outdoor space as a rest stop for the night, either for a small fee or by asking visitors to spend money inside the business. Jack White's Motorhome Park, Co Wicklow. Pic: Seán Dwyer Jack White's Inn in Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow, recently opened 35 serviced motorhome bays, where users can access electricity and water for a small fee, or can stay in the car park for free. Owner Tadhg Kennedy said many of the customers haven't travelled great distances, and a lot go away most weekends. 'I suppose they want to get out of the big towns, and it's a night out', he told Extra .ie 'It just wipes away taxis and some of the other nonsense associated with going out… yet it's somewhere different, and they feel they're away. They're in holiday mode, even if they're only here for one night.' Sarah Cooke, who owns the rental company Cookies Campers in Rathcoole in Co. Dublin, said there is 'definitely that trend where people are going to these pub stops to socialise together'. Tadgh Kennedy, proprietor of Jack White's Motorhome Park. Pic: Seán Dwyer She told 'Taxis are such an issue in rural areas. I definitely have friends who have campervans, and it's great—they can go to the local pub and park there for the night if need be.' Ms Cooke noted that campers are 'often quite social people'. 'They want to go somewhere where there's a bit of craic, there's a bit of music, there's good food.' Bri Delahunty, who has lived in his motorhome for eight years and set up the Facebook group Ireland Motorhome Pub Stops, said the relationship between pubs and campervan owners 'has become a two-way street'. 'The pubs themselves, when I spoke to them, said because of the dying midweek trade, they were welcoming and open to motorhomes staying,' he told the Campervans are becoming extremely popular in Ireland. Pic: Getty Images 'You will get tourists going in, even groups of motorhomes will turn up at a place, and then that whole place will be rammed for a night or two.' Mr Delahunty said members of his Facebook group 'will drive for four hours to a pub on the west coast of Ireland'. 'Some pubs have cottoned on and are providing live music and such. Anderson's Thatch Pub [in rural Roscommon] for instance – that guy gets up in the morning and leaves you fresh-baked baguettes and croissants, all for your €10 generosity donation. 'It's not compulsory but people pay. You don't get the mentality of somebody who is only staying overnight and just driving off.' He recalls spending €120 in a pub in Achill on meals and drinks, then spending the night outside. 'That was €120 that pub wouldn't have got, and it was out of season. When we spoke to the owner, he said: 'That's fantastic – that's why we support the motorhomes coming here.'' Colm Redmond of Johny O'Loghlen's pub in Cashel, Co. Galway, said the trade from campervan Situated along the Wild Atlantic Way, the pub is a welcome rest stop for plenty of overseas visitors. But many other customers are 'local people with campervans going semi-local' for their night out, Mr Redmond said. 'It means you're keeping the money in the area, or in the county. We have people coming from Westport, Castlebar, Achill, Galway?' Paul Dunne, who manages the rental company Rambling Rover Campervans in Slane, Co. Meath, said the pub stopover is 'a big revenue earner for the pubs'. 'The man that's rented the campervan will bring an egg and maybe a bowl of corn flakes for the breakfast, but he's going in and having a sandwich and a cup of tea in the pub, or eating a meal and having a few pints or whatever.' Mr Dunne said renting campers to go to music festivals in towns is now 'a massive thing'. 'They're all going to Nathan Carter or Mike Denver or whoever, staying in the pub or the hotel car park, and they're all going to the music festival.' The Connemara pub (which lays claim to the cheapest Guinness in Ireland at €4.50 a pint) has space to accommodate campers and will introduce facilities next year. 'We're only getting used to it,' Mr Redmond said. 'It seems to be a growing industry, and a lot of people are looking at the price of hotel rooms and they're saying this is a good alternative.'
