Blackrock mother warns of 'lawlessness' after her teen sons were assaulted

The number of gardaí in Blackrock station is less than half what it was 15 years ago.

The data was revealed as a Cork mother said that a better garda presence in the area might have prevented a recent unprovoked attack on her teenage sons.

A week-and-a-half ago, Shane and Logan McCarthy rang their mum Margo at 9.30pm, saying they were leaving Mahon Point shopping centre, and there was no bus for 25 minutes, so they had decided to walk.

As they were walking, two young people that they didn’t know started shouting abuse at them, but the brothers ignored them.

When they were almost home, the youths ran up on behind them and attacked them, injuring both, with Shane sustaining severe facial injuries and a concussion.

When she rang them, 15 minutes later, wondering what was taking them so long, she got an awful shock. “A woman answered his phone, she was very distressed and said ‘come get your sons, they’re in a bad way’.” 

The woman had been passing by when she saw Logan trying to lift Shane off the road, and called the emergency services, and Ms McCarthy said she was very grateful for the stranger's help.

Her husband and daughter ran out to find them, while she stayed at home with the younger children.

“My daughter was the first to come upon the horrific scene – she didn’t recognise her brother on the ground, only for the t-shirt he was wearing. He was unrecognisable because of the amount of blood all over his face.

“We didn’t know was he going to be brain dead or left with lifechanging injuries, and he was so close to home, I could have ended up having to pass that scene every day.” 

Shane was taken to hospital in an ambulance, while a “traumatised, incoherent” Logan was brought home by gardaí, who have said that investigations into the attack are ongoing.

Ms McCarthy said: “The image haunts me – I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I’m looking over my shoulder all the time.” 

The Blackrock garda station, which covers the Mahon area, had 33 gardaí in 2012, but three years later it had dropped sharply to 25.

The figure continued decreasing, and since 2020 has been at 16 or 17 gardaí, every year.

Ms McCarthy said that since the start of a high visibility policing model which saw 48 gardaí assigned to the city centre last November, she believes it's had a knock-on effect on her area. 

“All the problems are coming out to the suburbs, like a cat and mouse game. The lawlessness is off the charts with fires and antisocial behaviour and they can’t police the area. My child could have been murdered on the street.

“I’m lucky, my sons came home to me, but what about the next mother whose children never come home? That’s why I’m speaking out.” 

She said that Shane is still “deeply traumatised and psychologically affected” by the incident.

“He just doesn’t understand why somebody would do such a thing.” 

Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said that the collapse in garda numbers while the community has grown “is difficult to comprehend”. 

He said that gardaí in the area are dedicated, but undoubtedly stretched. “We have seen some really serious incidents locally, most of all the appalling attack on the two young boys.

“There has never been a satisfactory explanation as to why this station and this area has been so badly left behind.”