Father hails Alanna Idris Quinn’s Leaving Cert results months after she lost sight in eye in high-profile Dublin attack

Teenager suffered a ruptured eyeball and fractures to her cheek and eye socket during assault last year

Teenager Alanna Idris Quinn, who was attacked in Dublin late last year and lost the sight in her eye, is celebrating highly impressive Leaving Cert results, her father, Ahmed Idris, has said.

Sharing an update on his daughter, whose high-profile case generated significant media coverage at the start of the year, Mr Idris said his daughter had sat her Leaving Cert and achieved impressive grades.

“I’m blown away this morning by the sheer determination of my beautiful daughter,” he said on Twitter. “Six months after losing her sight in an attack she aced her Leaving Cert with great results like 70-80 per cent in history and home [economics], 80-90 per cent in English and French, 90-100 per cent in maths. I am the proudest father.”

The then 17-year-old and a male friend she was with were attacked close to the Civic Offices, on Ballyfermot Road, Dublin, on December 30th. A photograph of the very serious injury to her eye and surrounding area was shared by the family and an online funding campaign raised €99,000 for Ms Idris Quinn and a friend she was with at the time, who was also assaulted.

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Her parents confirmed six weeks after the attack she had lost sight in her injured eye and needed reconstructive surgery on her eye socket, using bones from her hip.

Ms Idris Quinn suffered a ruptured eyeball and fractures to her cheek and eye socket. She also suffered broken teeth and was left with a large wound just below her eye.

In an update on her daughter’s condition in February, Ms Idris Quinn’s mother, Jamie Ambers, said she and Alanna’s father had decided in the previous weeks to limit the amount of information about the case they shared on social media. She believed this had given rise to the impression her daughter was “on the mend”, although this was not the case.

“Her eye is not ever going to be better,” Ms Ambers said at the time. Ms Ambers added that Alanna “literally has no cheekbone and only half an eye socket”, and would require a significant surgery involving a hospital stay of three to four days and about one month to recover.

“She has to have bone taken from her hip to reconstruct her eye socket and then a plate inserted to replace what was once her cheekbone but is now just an open hole,” she said.

A Garda investigation has been carried out into the assault and a number of teenagers are currently before the courts.

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times