A man who was attacked by a gang of youths on Dublin's Grand Canal says he 'feels hopeless' and worries for his safety.
Mustafa Aker is originally from Turkey but has been living and working in Ireland for several years.
He told The Hard Shoulder an incident happened as he was walking home from work on June 5th at around 5pm.
"After I left the office I was walking home and I saw four teenagers," he said.
"I saw them but I never thought that they were going to attack me.
"I passed them, then I felt something behind me [so] I turned back and a stick hit my nose.
"They were probably going to hit my head but then I turned around and so the stick was on my nose".
Mr Aker said he was "in shock" immediately after the attack.
"I just only said, 'Why did you do this?' and they laughed and ran away," he said.
"The stick was broken after they hit me."
'Gardaí didn't show'
Mr Aker said a passerby saw him and offered to help.
"He called the Gardaí, we waited for almost 20 minutes and they didn't show up," he said.
"He wanted me to go to the police station by myself and I did.
"I didn't think I could get a taxi because I was in shock at that moment [so] I walked there and I was crying a bit."
'No CCTV'
Mr Aker said he gave a statement to Gardaí and asked them what he can do to protect himself.
"He said basically I don't have anything to protect myself - I cannot have a pepper [spray] or electric shock device because they're teenagers and these kind of devices are illegal," he said.
"He went there to check the CCTV... there was no CCTV where this incident happened but where they ran there is CCTV.
"On the Grand Canal there are too many offices so there is CCTV, I saw them".
Mr Aker said he feels like there's nothing he can do.
"I feel hopeless, desperate," he said.
"I believe the Guards should protect every citizen, every person in the county but they don't - they cannot probably," he added.
An Garda Síochána say investigations are ongoing.
'I couldn't stand up to these kids'
Irish-born taxi driver Ednan Hameed said he recently had someone try and dodge a fare in his cab at 7.30pm.
"The fare was around €35, the two of them ran off - of course I got out of the car like anyone probably would," he said.
"I started shouting, 'Where's my fare?' and all of a sudden six to 10 lads came out of nowhere between the ages of 16 and 20.
"They said, 'Get out of this area you foreigner, you Paki' - and of course I stood up for myself.
"But then I realised, 'Don't be silly, get in the car' and I was trying to drive away.
"A guy came over and kicked my side mirror and the passenger window was open and two lads tried to come in through the window".
Mr Hameed, whose family is originally from Pakistan, said he is scared about what such groups of teenagers could do.
"You felt very scared... I couldn't even stand up to these kids, I'd be afraid of what they're able to do," he said.
"I have three kids at home - I don't want to be going through that, I don't think anybody wants to be going through that.
"I don't know why people call them 'kids' - but I don't call them kids, these people who are trying to make it harder for us to go out and work.
"Now I'm actually looking at people before I'm picking them up".
'Never felt this much fear'
Mr Hameed said he eventually got the window up and was able to drive away but the attackers followed him.
"I'm driving away thinking I need to stop somewhere and check out the car, there they are running after me still throwing rocks and eggs," he said.
"Thankfully my passenger window was up at that time because whatever they were throwing with the eggs if that window was open there would have been an accident... causing me to crash into another car."
Mr Hameed said he worries about his children's safety when they're out and about.
"I'm born and raised here - I'm 44 - I have never felt this much fear even growing up as a child," he said.
"It's like these groups of lads are walking around tormenting you.
"I'm actually afraid to send my kids out now and my wife and my kids are fearful of me going, even in the evenings or the weekend where the work is for the taximen.
"I don't want to say that; I'm an Irish man, my kids are Irish, my grandfather's been here since '57".
Mr Hameed added that it is "an awful thing" that he needs to start thinking like this.
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