The Tánaiste will discuss the Garda presence on the streets of Dublin with the Justice Minister after an ‘absolutely appalling’ homophobic attack in the early hours of Sunday morning.
23-year-old Evan Somers was badly beaten near Dame Street at around 3am on Sunday morning.
In a tweet yesterday afternoon, he said the attacker used a homophobic slur before attacking him and leaving him with a fracture eye socket, two fractures in his ankle and other minor injuries.
“Last night a stranger called me a f***ot before beating the s**t out of me,” he wrote.
“He left me with a fractured eye socket, two fractures in my ankle, a dislocation in my ankle and some other minor injuries.
“We’ve come a long way but still have such a long way to go in terms of equality.”
Last night a stranger called me a faggot before beating the shit out of me. He left me with a fractured eye socket, 2 fractures in my ankle, a dislocation in my ankle & some other minor injuries. We’ve come a long way but still have such a long way to go in terms of equality. pic.twitter.com/aAA8OQ83QY
— Evan (@ebintosh) April 10, 2022
This afternoon, the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he was “shocked and appalled” at the attack and said he would be raising the issue of new hate crime laws and the Garda presence on the streets with Justice Minister Helen McEntee.
Shocked and appalled that an assault of this natured occurred in our capital city. Will discuss with Helen McEntee re Garda presence on our street and new hate crime laws. Sorry about what happened. Wishing you a swift recovery https://t.co/Mj4mJuyDsV
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 11, 2022
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Minister for Inclusion Josepha Madigan said Gardaí need to be visible on the city streets.
“It is an absolutely appalling attack and my heart goes out to Evan and indeed his family who I am sure are devastated by the whole thing,” she said.
“I would really like to see the perpetrator prosecuted for this crime. It doesn’t matter it was at 3:30am or whenever it happened. It is an absolute disgrace.”
Minister Madigan said she believes Ireland is an accepting society in general, but warned “one incident like this is one incident too many” and said Ireland still has a way to go to stamp them out.
“It was just really disappointing to see that this is happening,” she said. “That Evan was called a f***ot or whatever derogatory term or prejudicial term was used.”
“It is just not acceptable and that is why the hate crime legislation is really, really critical. So that perpetrators know that their words and their actions have consequences and that they meet the rigours of the law.”
Gardaí have said they are “investigating all the circumstances” around the assault, “including any hate-related motivation”.
No arrests have been made and investigators are urging anyone with any information to come forward.
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