Stills from a video showing a man being attacked with a hurley by a man and being punched by another man, in Rathkeale, Co Limerick, last Sunday afternoon

Gardaí arrest man in connection with ramming and hurley attack in Rathkeale

03 Dec 2024, 10:35 by David Raleigh · Irish Mirror

Gardaí are questioning a man in relation to a ramming incident and assault of a man with a hurley in the town of Rathkeale, Co Limerick.

A video was shared on social media showing a man being attacked by two men, including a male that was armed with a hurley at the scene of a two-car collision on Sunday afternoon.

The footage shows one of the males beating the victim with a hurley while a second man rains down punches on the victim.

A voice on the video footage can be heard saying: "The guards would want to be brought down now."

Despite being punched and beaten several times with a hurley, the victim of the attack walked away and it is unclear if they sought medical treatment.

When asked for information, a Garda spokesman confirmed that Gardaí were "alerted to a public order incident in Rathkeale" on December 1.

"The incident in which a vehicle was rammed and a male assaulted occurred on Lower Main Street area at approximately 4:30pm," said the Garda spokesman.

"A man in his 20s has since been arrested and is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in Co. Limerick. Investigations are ongoing."

It is the latest wave of violence to hit the town which Gardaí suspect may be linked to an ongoing feud between rival groups.

Several more videos showing men fighting in a pub and on streets have been shared on social media.

Three weeks ago a car was rammed into a house in the town and set on fire causing substantial damage to the property.

The scene at the house in Rathkeale which was rammed by a car(Image: Brendan Gleeson)

In another incident a truck was driven into a property in the town on October 21 last, and, on October 8 last, a house was targeted in a petrol bombing.

Feuding groups rammed cars and produced weapons during the feud last Christmas, and armed gardai were deployed by Garda headquarters to patrol the town to get a hold on the violence.

Adam Teskey, a local Fine Gael Councillor and a member of the local joint-policing committee said extra Garda resources were needed to calm tensions.

"I’m aware the Gardaí are investigating a number of violent incidents, and all supports to the local Gardaí need to be deployed now and the local Superintendent has my full support for that," said Cllr Teskey.

"It’s outrageous behaviour and it needs to be tackled head on, and the Gardaí need to be supported."

A source in the town said: "These people are off their heads, it is gone fair rough in the town now, tensions are at an all-time high.

"Tensions have been building up for some time between the parties involved and someone could be killed here.

"It’s happening in broad daylight in the middle of a busy town, where you have schools, shops, innocent people doing their day to day business trying to get on with their lives and this is happening.

"There is a lawlessness, what we need here is a water cannon to sort out the problem."

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