Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal, Louise O’Reilly, has condemned alleged assaults in Temple Bar which resulted in the hospitalisation of three tourists yesterday.

Teachta O’Reilly said:

“Yesterday‘s incident in Temple Bar was deeply shocking and totally unacceptable. My thoughts are with the three people receiving hospital treatment for their injuries and I wish them a speedy recovery.

“Dubliners, those who call this city home, tourists and Gardaí, all deserve to be safe in our capital city but are being failed by Fine Gael.

“Sinn Féin have outlined our proposals to tackle crime in Dublin.

“We are calling on the Minister to increase intake capacity for Garda training in Templemore with the introduction of a new hybrid training model that would increase the numbers who can complete training and attest as sworn members, ending the scandal of under-recruitment.

“She must substantively engage with Gardaí and their representatives to identify and remedy the cause of increased resignations from An Garda Síochána.

“We need a meaningful and ambitious Garda recruitment campaign, and updated recruitment criteria to make the Gardaí more reflective of modern Irish society, including groups that are currently under-represented.

“We must also establish public transport policing on specific DART, LUAS, Irish Rail, and Dublin Bus services to ensure that passengers are protected and can feel safe.

“A sticking-plaster approach to policing our capital city will not cut it – we need real reform to keep communities safe.”

Sinn Féin’s ‘Keeping Communities Safe’ document can be read here.