LAST UPDATE | 29 Aug 2023

TWO GARDA MEMBERS were assaulted when responding to a public order incident in Co Louth overnight.

The incident happened at around 1.30am this morning on the Greenore Road in Carlingford.

One male garda was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment of non-life threatening injuries sustained as a result of the incident.

A second male garda received injuries but did not require medical attention at the scene.

Two men, one aged in his 40s and the other in his late teens, were arrested in relation to the incident.

Both have since been charged and appeared before a sitting of Trim District Court in Co Meath earlier this morning.

General secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) Antoinette Cunningham described the incident as a “disgusting and cowardly attack”.

She added that incidents like these are “happening all too frequently”.

“In what other job would it be tolerated that you are attacked and assaulted as you go about your job,” Cunnigham added.

In a separate incident in Dublin city on Sunday morning, two garda members were injured when they responded to a public order incident on Berkeley Street at around 11.15am.

Cunningham described this incident as a “brutal assault” which left one garda member “with a damaged eye socket and concussion”.

One male garda was taken to the Mater Hospital to receive treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

A second male garda received minor injuries but did not require medical attention at the time.

A man in his mid-20s was arrested in relation to the incident and has since been charged.

He appeared before a sitting of the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday morning.

A garda spokesperson said Garda welfare services have been offered and put in place for these garda members and their colleagues.

The AGSI has condemned both incidents and a spokesperson said: “These all-to-frequent incidents highlight once again the ever present dangers that colleagues face every day on duty as a member of An Garda Síochána.

“We again reiterate the need for mandatory minimum sentences for assaults on Emergency Workers and call on the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to seriously consider this and to condemn these cowardly assaults.”