Three gay men were ‘hunted’ through a Dublin park by six men with knives this week.
They had been walking through Phoenix Park, the largest of any capital in Europe, on Monday when they were approached by the armed group.
Barry Ward, a Fine Gael Senator, shared the news in Ireland’s Seanad after being contacted by one of the victims.
He said: ‘They were chased down and, as he said, ‘hunted’ by six men with knives.’
‘God knows what would have happened if they had not’ escaped, Ward said.
But when they went to the police, he said, ‘they were told there was no CCTV so they could not identify the crowd. That’s not good enough.’
Ward added: ‘There needs to be further education for the park rangers or for other Garda present in the Phoenix Park to protect people because attacks are absolutely unacceptable.’
In a comment provided to Metro.co.uk, an Garda Síochána – Ireland’s police – said: ‘Gardaí are aware of an incident alleged to have occurred in the Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 on Monday night, June 14, 2024.
‘Gardaí responded at 11:35pm but following a lengthy patrol of the area no person made any formal report to An Garda Síochána.
‘An Garda Síochána appeals to anyone with direct knowledge or who has been a victim of such an incident in the area to contact An Garda Síochána either at Cabra Garda Station on 01 666 7400, the Diversity Unit at the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau on 01 666 3150 or through an advocacy group.
‘Following the reports of this alleged incident, An Garda Síochána through the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau and Community Policing Unit in Cabra Garda Station have been in contact with LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups.’
Ward said: ‘What on earth is going on that this still happens in Ireland in 2024 when every right-thinking member of society recognised the normality of sexual relationships between people of the same gender or same sex?’
Ireland only legalised homosexuality in 1993, and Dublin’s first Pride parade was organised in 1983 after Declan Flynn, a gay man, was murdered in Fairview Park.
But the country has made great strides on LGBT+ rights since then, now having some of the most progressive laws in the world.
Same-sex marriage was legalised after the public showed overwhelming support for it in a 2015 referendum.
That same year, legislation was passed to allow same-sex couples to adopt.
Another granted transgender people self-identification, removing the need for medical assessment before a legal gender change.
Leo Varadkar, who became Taoiseach – Prime Minister – in 2017, also came out as gay that year.
He was Ireland’s first government minister to do so, and he was only the fourth openly gay head of state or government in the world.
But violent homophobia has seen a resurgence in Ireland in recent years.
A lesbian couple – Robyn Deane and Kate McCabe – were assaulted by a ‘rage-filled’ 15-year-old boy after he saw them cuddling in a bus shelter in 2022.
That same year, Yousef Palani murdered two gay men – Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee – decapitating one of them, due to ‘hostility and prejudice’ towards gay men.
Varadkar himself has been subjected to intense scrutiny over his sexuality, and was bombarded with homophobic slurs as he sipped a coffee with a friend last year.
His former government colleague Roderic O’Gorman, currently running to be Green Party leader, has been accused of being unsuitable for his role as Children’s Minister due to his sexuality.
Speaking in April, Varadkar said: ‘I think there’s been an increase in violence towards the community and, sort of, starting to become acceptable again to be homophobic or transphobic, in particular.
‘And I worry about that.’
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