FOUR MEN have been arrested for questioning as part of a major Garda operation into serious disturbances in Tipperary town on St Patrick’s Day.
The arrests bring to six the number of people detained for questioning about the violence.
Just after 7am yesterday local gardaí backed by members from national units began a co-ordinated operation in Tipperary town during which the four suspects were detained.
The operation involved armed members of the new regional support units, the Garda helicopter and the Garda’s new mobile command and control unit. The four suspects, who are in their 20s, were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
They were being questioned at Cahir and Tipperary town Garda stations last night on suspicion of violent disorder in Tipperary town on St Patrick’s Day.
Up to 10 people were injured, many of them hospitalised, after a group of six young men known to gardaí harassed and assaulted people in the town over a period of about six hours on the afternoon and early evening of St Patrick’s Day.
One of the injured was an American man in his 20s who was in Tipperary with his wife and sister. He was set upon and badly beaten by three of the group after he had crossed the road in the town to avoid the men as they assaulted another person.
The American man was badly beaten around the head and suffered a broken nose, severe bruising and a suspected fractured eye socket. He was treated at three hospitals, in Tipperary, Waterford and Dublin and has since returned to the US.
A number of the other victims were men in their 60s or much younger men in their late teens. Some received punches to the face as they walked in the town, while others were more severely beaten and required stitches to head wounds.
It is understood the group responsible for the violence began drinking on the streets of the town early on the day in question.
The first two people detained were arrested in Tipperary town on St Patrick’s Day.
The two men, who have addresses in the town and are aged 18 and 22 years, were brought before Cashel District Court on March 18th and were remanded in custody.
They are due to appear before Tipperary District Court this morning to face a range of charges including intoxication, threatening behaviour and assault.
Both of these men are related to each other and are also related to the four men arrested yesterday.
Gardaí have taken statements from a number of people assaulted on St Patrick’s Day and it is understood a number of these have been able to identify their attackers. Some of the incidents were also captured on CCTV.