Vanguard News Network
VNN Media
VNN Digital Library
VNN Reader Mail
VNN Broadcasts

Old July 27th, 2007 #1
dogman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 2,499
Default Irish youths v Poles(white on white violence )

Mayor says minority to blame for racial clash
By Conor McHugh:
RACIAL tensions are rising in Newbridge following the second violent clash in as many weeks between local youths and members of the Polish community.
Two men were hospitalised after the latest incident which erupted in a kebab shop and then spilled onto the street at around 1.35am on Sunday morning. It comes just seven days after a vicious knife attack by a local youth on two Polish men – also in the early hours of Sunday morning and in the vicinity of a take-away restaurant.
Gardaí have played down the racial element to the attacks and say they have no reason to believe they are linked. They also deny any evidence of inter-racial tensions between Irish residents and foreign nationals.
However the town's Mayor Paddy Kennedy has put the blame fairly and squarely on what he calls a "minority" of Polish people whom, he claims, "are attacking people going about their business, for no reason whatsoever".
He said he knew some of the young Irish people who were caught up in the recent violence, and they had never been in trouble before. He added that the actions of a minority of Polish people were causing problems for their own community.
"It's not fair to the Polish community, and for everybody's sake we need to sort it out. This can lead to bigger problems," he warned.
Gardaí say they are investigating the latest incident. A garda spokesman said: "It was a serious assault. There were six men involved. Three of those involved were Irish and three were possibly Polish.
"Two of the men had injuries to their faces. No weapons were used."
He said the incident was 'probably fuelled by alcohol", adding: "There are suspects, but none have been arrested yet."
The previous weekend's incident occurred at almost exactly the same time in the early hours of Sunday morning, 8 July, near the Chicken America restaurant on Moorefield Road.
"That is also under investigation," said a garda spokesman. "A younger chap was involved in that incident. There is no reason to link the two."
The latest violence follows a spate of attacks – some unprovoked – in March and April. On one occasion a clash between Irish and Polish youths, some as young as 12, led to a spree of violent attacks in broad daylight.
At the time gardaí said they considered it to be a public order incident and not a racially-motivated one. They said they would keep a close eye on things "to try to make sure it does not escalate further".
18 July 2007
http://www.leinsterleader.ie/ViewArt...icleID=3040164
 
Reply

Share


Thread
Display Modes


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:50 AM.
Page generated in 0.04391 seconds.