A young Galway man was violently assaulted during an unprovoked attack in Dublin city centre at the weekend
During the incident, up to 15 people surrounded the young man on the quays with one kicking him in the head while he tried to eat a sandwich with a friend.
Speaking with Dublin Live, the victim recalled the horrific incident where the 15-strong bike gang brutally assaulted him as he walked with his friend.
He said: "As I live only 10 minutes away from town, I went in on Saturday as I can walk in with ease. I met up with my friend and was sitting on steps social distancing and we both bought food which we ate.
"I was holding the empty packet in my hand and out of nowhere about 15 lads on bikes came cycling past. The first lad saw me and kicked my hand, knocking the wrapper out of it and then another guy came along and kicked me in the face as he flew by.
"He kicked me at the edge of my mouth, so I went to stand up and a third lad threw a punch at me and hit me in the neck.
"My friend wasn't hit as there was a railing on his side but they managed to get me as my head was sticking out. I was fairly outnumbered, I grew up playing contact sports and I don't know if that helped me but I'm totally fine now.
"To be throwing violent kicks at someone is just crazy and to think there are people out there so reckless as well?
The 21-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that the incident was witnessed by several passers-by. The attack occurred on Saturday evening near Tara Street train station.
Gardai confirmed they are investigating the incident..
A spokesman said: "Gardaí received a report of an alleged incident of assault which occurred at Burgh Quay on Saturday the 20 th March 2021.
"A man in his 20s sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Enquiries are ongoing."
The man is originally from Galway but now resides locally in Dublin. After the ordeal, he took to social media to warn others to be careful when out walking.
He wrote: "I was a victim of an unprovoked assault in Dublin, I don't know what's going on in the city recently but this gang of youths seems to be getting reckless, stirring up sh*t.
"I stood up to them and my friend told me to walk away as it would only end up bad, so I did.
Speaking about the violent assault, he said: "As I said on Twitter, my injuries weren't serious, they aren't life-changing but obviously, their actions of them doing it had made me "very on edge" and it would make me want to avoid town as well.
"I see a lot of this going on, I think they are just bored and they are looking for something to do. If you are bored this is something you shouldn't actually be doing. They are doing nothing else and they want something to entertain them and this is it sadly."
"What they did was totally reckless and if they hit me in my temple or anything as they passed by, not only would my life be over but so would theirs. It is scary to think about those repercussions. The bottom line is, be careful out there."
The man was unaware of the large Garda presence in the city due to the planned anti lockdown protest last Saturday.
"I did manage to contact a Garda as there were a lot of protests on that day that I wasn't aware of, he interviewed me and my friend.
"There were three CCTV cameras and they were going to try get footage from them along with three onlookers who saw it also. I don't think to be honest I have much hope of anything being done about it but if it does, I'd be happy. The mental aspect of it will always be there and it makes you a bit more on edge."
The brave young man had a message for his attackers - warning them that their senseless violence could ruin not just their victims' lives, but their own.
He said: "Well for me, I've come out of this okay, obviously being from Galway and not Dublin I've never experienced anything like it and I'll have my wits about me a bit more.
"To these individuals, you may think you're being cool showing off to all your mates but realistically you're impressing people who probably won't be your friends in 20 years' time. All the actions you do can damage other people but also you damage yourselves.
"If I had leaned forward a little bit more or they raised their foot higher and caught me on the temple that's it, lights out I would have been gone and that would be another family in tatters. I'm someone's son, I'm someone's brother and someone's best friend.
"You would have ruined multiple people's lives and more so than anything you would have ruined your own."
