Teen arrested in connection with alleged attack on three gay men in Phoenix park

A man has been arrested and charged over an incident in which gay men claimed to have been chased in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

The man, aged in his 20s, was arrested on Saturday in connection with what Gardaí say were “incidents of violent disorder” in the park on Monday June 17. The man is due to appear in court on Monday.

A Garda spokesperson said: “On the night of Monday June 17, 2024 at approximately 11:30 p.m., Gardaí received an anonymous call regarding an incident in Phoenix Park and attended. A search of the area was carried out and no one came forward to Gardaí. Following further inquiries, Gardaí have identified a suspect.

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“The man, aged around his late teens, was arrested on suspicion of committing an offense under the Non-Fatal Offenses Against the Person Act 1997 and detained at a train station in Garda in north Dublin. He has been charged and will appear before the CCJ tomorrow morning, Monday June 24, 2024.”

GardaÍ added that they take “any hate crime or incident seriously, and incidents reported to us are professionally investigated”.

“An Garda Síochána is calling on anyone with direct knowledge of or who has been a victim of such an incident in the area to contact An Garda Síochána either at Cabra Garda Station on 01 666 7400 or at the National Office Diversity Unit Garda Community Engagement Center on 01. 666 3150 or via an advocacy group.

“Following reports of this alleged incident, An Garda Síochána, through the Garda National Community Engagement Office and the Community Policing Unit at Cabra Garda Station, has been in contact with LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups.”

It comes after the men claimed they were chased for almost an hour by a group of six men who shouted “gay slurs” at them during a shocking incident in the park.

Taking to social media, one of the men said: “All my LGBT friends, please avoid Phoenix Park. My two friends and I were literally chased around the park for over an hour by a car full of men who literally jumped out of the car with all the doors open and started chasing us with knives, we addressing homosexual insults.

“We hid in three ditches before reaching an exit, which took over an hour because they were driving around the park looking for us. Is this happening in 2024? If we hadn't run or hidden, God knows what would have happened.

The incident was also raised in the Seanad last week by Fine Gael senator Barry Ward, who said it simply would not happen in 2024.

“Yesterday I received a report from a man who was at Phoenix Park with two of his friends,” he said.

“They were chased or, as he put it, 'hunted' by six men armed with knives. (He) and his friends escaped their pursuers, but God knows what would have happened if they hadn't. Apparently Phoenix Park is not safe for people.

“These guys were walking in the park and were chased by six men. What is happening that this is still happening in Ireland in 2024, when all right-thinking members of society recognize the normality of same-sex or same-sex sexual relations?

“What is happening that we are not addressing this problem? What is happening that Gardaí are not present in the park? I ask because when the three friends went to the Gardaí about this they were told there was no CCTV and they could not identify the crowd,” he continued .

“It's not good enough. There need to be patrols in Phoenix Park to protect people.

Mr Ward went on to suggest that park rangers or another Garda presence at Phoenix Park may be necessary.

“We should have a debate about what steps we need to take to protect everyone equally.”

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