Five gardaí assaulted since April

Five serving members of An Garda Síochána have been assaulted while on duty in Cavan over the past three months.

The incidents were confirmed by Superintendent Gavin O’Reilly, who said Gardaí have a “zero tolerance” approach to assaults on members of the force.

The most recent incident occurred in Virginia, where a senior Garda officer was allegedly headbutted in the face by a teenage boy during an incident.

The 16-year-old was subsequently arrested, and has since been referred to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme.

Speaking at a meeting of the Cavan Local Community Safety Partnership, Supt O’Reilly stressed that attacks on Garda personnel will be taken extremely seriously, and “the full rigours of the law” would be applied in cases where members are assaulted while carrying out their duties.

The superintendent condemned the incidents, and reiterated that there is a Garda commitment to protecting frontline officers as they serve communities across the county.