A close-knit Kilkenny community has been “deeply shocked” by an attack on a teenage girl while she was out walking near her home.
A forensic search of the area where the 17-year-old girl was attacked on Monday was carried out this morning, while a Garda manhunt for the attacker remains under way.
Mayor of Kilkenny Andrew McGuinness said the community in Johnstown, Co Kilkenny, is shocked but has full confidence that gardaí will identify who is responsible for the attack.
“They responded so proactively and with force – we had Garda helicopters out, we had feet on the ground in Johnstown, they went door to door,” he told Newstalk radio.
“The community in Johnstown in north Kilkenny is a very close-knit community, people there support each other very well and they’re deeply shocked because it’s a very safe area and for something like this to happen on our doorstep so soon after what happened Ashling Murphy in Tullamore.”
Gardaí are continuing to search for the lone male who allegedly attacked the girl as she exercised in the rural area of north Kilkenny near Ballyspellan on Monday.
The girl, who lives locally, was last night being treated in St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny for shock and minor injuries, according to the Irish Examiner.
The teenager was approached by the man who was a stranger to her on a rural road, known locally as Cullinane’s Lane, located about one kilometre from Johnstown village, shortly after midday. She struggled with the man and screamed for help, at which point he fled, gardaí have been told.
Garda operation
Gardaí have conducted a preliminary interview with the teenager and have obtained details of the man.
A large Garda operation involving a Garda helicopter took place on Monday afternoon around the village of Johnstown, according to The Irish Times, near where the incident occurred.
“The male is best described, at this time, as a white male in his 40s with an Irish accent,” a Garda statement said.
He was wearing dark clothing and may have been carrying a sharp implement at the time, it is understood.
The road where the incident occurred runs through farmland but has a number of houses on it where gardaí have been carrying out door-to-door inquiries.
Gardaí combed the surrounding fields and gathered CCTV evidence, with the search operation also involving dog units and the Garda Air Unit.
I am appalled that after all the recent protests and vigils highlighting the vulnerability of women that this has happened so soon
Local Fine Gael councillor Mary Hilda Cavanagh, who knows the family of the victim of the attack, said she was “horrified, shocked and appalled” by the incident.
“I have daughters and grand-daughters myself. I am appalled that after all the recent protests and vigils highlighting the vulnerability of women that this has happened so soon.”
“I am heartbroken for that girl.”
Gardaí are continuing to appeal for anyone who travelled on the R639 between Johnstown and The Gallops (a minor road also known locally as Cullinanes Lane), Ballyspellan between 11am and 12.15pm on Monday to come forward.
Gardaí can be contacted at Kilkenny at 056 777 5000, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111 or at any Garda station.
