Victim undergoes emergency surgery after slash attack

TENSIONS between feuding Traveller families erupted on the streets of Ennis this week when a man sustained serious slash injuries after being attacked by a number of people.

Despite gardaí closely monitoring the volatile situation, including the deployment of the Emergency Response Unit during the week, the attack took place in the full glare of young schoolchildren as they emerged from Ennis National School on Tuesday evening.
The 43-year-old victim subsequently underwent emergency surgery to reattach a lacerated finger.
The man was first attacked in the car he shared with three children outside Ennis National School and the assault continued into the Market area.
The majority of pupils had gone home for the day but there were traffic wardens and some pupils who were participating in after-school activities at the school when the incident occurred.
Superintendent John Scanlan of the Ennis Garda District described the attack as “appalling” and confirmed that the gardaí are “following a number of definite lines of inquiry in respect of the incident”.
He outlined the matter as it unfolded. “Ennis gardaí received a call at 3.03pm on Tuesday to attend an incident outside Ennis National School on the Kilrush Road in Ennis. In the course of this dispute, a blue Toyota Corolla car was attacked by a number of people outside Ennis National School,” he said.
“This continued into the Market, where the car was pursued. The car was occupied by an adult male and three children, aged 14, two and one-and-a-half. In the course of this incident, the adult male sustained a number of serious injuries and was subsequently removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis and was subsequently transferred to another hospital. His injuries included a finger lacerated and slash injuries about the body,” Supt Scanlan explained.
He said the children in the vehicle were “extremely traumatised by the incident”.
The man was attacked by at least three men who got out of a black Toyota Avensis. Following the attack, the men fled the scene in this car.
“We’re appealing for witnesses to this appalling incident. Anyone who had sight of it should make contact with the gardaí, where their information will be treated in the utmost of confidence. I would like to thank the people who have already come forward as witnesses to this incident,” Supt Scanlan concluded.
Anyone who witnessed any aspect of the incident is urged to make contact with the gardaí in Ennis on 065 6848100.