GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING an assault against three men that took place in a park in Ballymun in Dublin over the weekend, which has been condemned as a “vile”, racist attack. 

On Saturday afternoon, three men were confronted and attacked in Poppintree Park.

Footage of the assault has been shared on social media and seen by The Journal. 

The men had just taken part in the Poppintree Parkrun — a community event that takes place every Saturday — and were part of a group called the Sanctuary Runners.

A garda a spokesperson confirmed today that gardaí responded to reports of an assault in the park on Saturday 27 June, adding that investigations were ongoing.

In the video, the men seem to initially greet the person recording them. They then appear shocked when the man begins throwing punches. 

One man is seen falling to the ground, where he appears to be kicked by the person recording the video. 

The Sanctuary Runners group describes itself as a solidarity-through-sport movement, “promoting community integration by bringing migrants (especially asylum seekers and refugees) and longer-term residents together to run, jog or walk in friendship and respect”. 

In a statement, the group said that three people who took part in the event with them were “the victims of a vile, unprovoked assault”.

The Sanctuary Runners said that the incident has been reported to gardaí and added: “Our hearts go out to the victims who simply went to the park to run”.

“Sanctuary Runners have been welcomed by the community in Poppintree for the last seven years and have felt only support and solidarity from the local community,” the statement added.

Anna Pringle, chief executive of the Sanctuary Runners, told The Journal the assault has left people in the local community “very upset” but that people who were there on the day “rallied round and supported the men”. 

“They just went to the park to go for a run,” she said. 

Pringle said there has been an outpouring of support from fellow runners and the local community in general.

“I wouldn’t like the Poppintree community to be tarred by this. This is a really welcoming place and this is not at all typical,” she said. 

She said the group has never experienced anything like what happened on Saturday. 

Poppintree Parkrun also released a statement condemning the attack.

The group said they were “disgusted” by the incident and insisted they were “proud to be an inclusive event”. 

Conor Reddy, a local People Before Profit councillor, told The Journal that this was the latest instance of racist violence in the area, pointing to an attack on a taxi driver last year. 

Reddy, who is part of the Ballymun for All initiative, said these incidents come from a “tiny minority” of people who have “an outsized effect”, but added that they have become “progressively nastier”.

Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central Gary Gannon said in statement today that justice minister Jim O’Callaghan must take steps to “develop a strategy to combat the sinister rise in violence and aggression against migrants”. 

Gannon referenced the assault in Poppintree Park, an alleged arson attack on an Islamic prayer hall in Dublin city centre on Monday and the recent conviction of men who planned a terrorist attack against a mosque in Galway. 

“The targeting of migrants is part of a wider and deeply unsettling trend – not just here in Ireland, but internationally,” he said. 

Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis and local councillors Anthony Connaghan, Leslie Kane and Edel Moran issued a joint statement condemning the assault as “utterly despicable”.

“This is not the first time that we have seen racist attacks on people and property or that false allegations were used to justify such despicable behaviour,” they said.

With reporting from Diarmuid Pepper