The Taoiseach said he is “absolutely appalled” at the murder of a Canadian tourist in Dublin.
Neno Dolmajian, a 41-year-old from Montreal, was attacked on O’Connell Street and Cathal Brugha Street in the early hours of Sunday, June 23rd.
He was taken to Dublin’s Mater Hospital but died on Tuesday with his parents and sister at his bedside.
The horrific attack in Dublin which left Canadian tourist Neno Dolmajian dead was utterly appalling.
The sad reality is this will happen again unless there is a real step-change from Government.
Dublin's inner city is not safe and the communities who live there do not feel… pic.twitter.com/whwdYsKDXo— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) July 3, 2024
Advertisement
To date, four men have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Two of the men have been charged and appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice.
Mr Harris said: “I’m absolutely appalled at the recent vicious attack in Dublin city centre which resulted in the death of Neno Dolmajian.
“A man who came from Montreal to enjoy the best of our city and best of our country, he came here on his holidays.
“The attack was absolutely reprehensible and the gardai have already made arrests and indeed charges in relation to this attack. Therefore it limits me somewhat on what I can say on this specific horrific tragedy.
“But I do know that there will now be a full murder inquiry because of the loss of Neno’s life yesterday and everybody in this House thinks of his family at this very difficult to time.”
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald urged the Government to further invest in daily garda operations in Dublin city centre.
Ms McDonald told the Dáil that the centre of Dublin city is “scourged” with antisocial behaviour, open drug-dealing and drug consumption as well as by gangs who create a “daily atmosphere of fear and intimidation”.
Expressing her sympathy to the parents and family of Mr Dolmajian, Ms McDonald added: “Neno came to Dublin to experience all the greatness of our capital city. That he didn’t get to go home is heart-breaking.
“The vicious attack that led to Mr Dolmajian’s death again highlights the hard reality that our city centre is not safe. I say this as a very proud Dubliner, as a Dubliner who believes that this is the greatest city in the world, with the best people and the best communities.
“In the aftermath of the Dublin riots government made big promises, but the truth is you continue to fail the people of this city.
“Taoiseach, people need to know that they are safe in the city of Dublin at any time. That is the bare minimum that people are entitled to.
“We need real action from the Government, and we need proper investment of resources.
“Dublin City Centre needs a proper, ongoing Garda presence of a scale necessary to meet this challenge.
“That means strong, visible daily operations to ensure that people are safe and that the centre of our city is returned to the people – to those who live here, work here, who operate businesses in Dublin and to those who visit our great city.”
She told the Dail that her Dublin colleague Louise O’Reilly witnessed the aftermath of the assault on Mr Dolmajian.
“She was on the site. She described it as utterly terrifying and horrific. You see that’s not an isolated incident. This has happened before and Taoiseach this will happen again until there is a real step change in government.”
Mr Harris said the Government is putting in additional resources to up garda presence in the city centre.
“I want the deputy to know, and I want the people of Dublin to know and indeed I want the people of Ireland and anyone visiting this country to know that we take extraordinarily seriously the safety of people in our city,” he added.
“In terms of public safety, the Garda Commissioner (Drew Harris) has put significant additional resources into high visibility policing in Dublin city centre.
“Specifically, in relation to Dublin, we’ve now seen Operation Irene commence. It is a specific operation that commences for the summer months, it runs from June to September across the Dublin metropolitan region.
“It is a multi agency operation and with the aim of identifying and preventing antisocial behaviour, combating alcohol consumption at an underage level, consumption of alcohol in public places and generally putting a garda focus for the summer months specifically on the issue of antisocial behaviour, with the overall aim of Operation Irene to enhance community safety and community confidence.
“So more gardaí in Dublin and more garda overtime for Dublin.”
Aontu leader Peadar Toibin and Labour leader Ivana Bacik also expressed their deepest sympathies to the family of Mr Dolmajian.
