Knife-Wielding Gang Allegedly Hunt Gay Men in Dublin Park
An 18-year-old was arrested after three gay men claimed a knife-wielding gang in a Dublin park chased them.
A teenager has been arrested in connection with an incident in which three gay men were allegedly “hunted” in Dublin’s Phoenix Park by a knife-wielding gang of men.
The teen, 18-year-old Reece Murphy, of Clondalkin, Ireland, has been charged with violent disorder and production of a hammer as a weapon, as well as with dangerous driving at two locations within the park.
The three victims claimed to have been walking through Phoenix Park on June 17 when they were approached by an armed gang of six men carrying knives and other weapons.
The men said they were pursued by the group, but managed to escape unscathed.
The men attempted to report the incident to An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police and security service, but were allegedly told that nothing could be done because there was no surveillance camera footage of the attack, according to Barry Ward, a member of the Irish Senate.
One of the men then approached Ward, who shared the story of the attempted attack in a floor speech on June 20, in which Ward demanded that police take the incident more seriously.
“They were chased down, and, as he said, ‘hunted’ by six men with knives,” Ward said, recounting the man’s story. He noted that the men escaped, but “God knows what would have happened if they had not.”
Ward, a member of the center-right political party Fine Gael, called for further education for park rangers and suggested that more officers might need to be assigned to the park to prevent similar attacks in the future.
“What on earth is going on that this still happens in Ireland in 2024 when every right-thinking member of society recognized the normality of sexual relationships between people of the same gender or same sex?” he said.
“We have come so far as a country in acknowledging the special nature of people who have pride in their sexuality and are showing that to us. It feels like we have come so far and yet we also know there are people in this country who do not acknowledge or accept it.”
A Garda spokesperson later confirmed that police were aware of the alleged incident and patrolled the park area after responding to the three victims’ complaint, but were unable to arrest anybody at the time. The spokesperson also urged people with knowledge of the attack, or victims of similar incidents, to contact police.
Upon further investigation, police were able to identify Murphy as a suspect and arrested him on June 23. Murphy appeared in Dublin District Court on the following day to face the charges against him, and was remanded on €800 bail, or about $857 in U.S. dollars — provided he abides by certain release conditions.
Among the conditions of Murphy’s release are that he must not enter Phoenix Park, or any other public park, while out on bail, must abide by a curfew requiring him to remain at his home from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night, and must keep a phone on him and be contactable at all times.
Murphy is next scheduled to appear in court on September 16.
Murphy’s lawyer, Solicitor Wayne Kenny, speaking at his client’s behest, asserted in court — hoping to inform the multiple media outlets present at the time — that Murphy is not homophobic and that the incident “was not some sort of attack on the gay community.”
Ireland has made much progress in recent years on LGBTQ rights, legalizing marriage equality via referendum in 2015, and passing legislation that same year that legalized same-sex adoptions and allowed transgender people to more easily change their legal gender.
In 2017, Leo Varadkar, a gay man, became the country’s Taoiseach (prime minister).
But the country also has a long history of violence directed at members of the LGBTQ community, the most prominent example being the murder of Declan Flynn in Dublin’s Fairview Park in 1983. More recently, other incidents of anti-LGBTQ violence have generated headlines.
In 2022, a lesbian couple — Robyn Deane and Kate McCabe — were assaulted by a “rage-filled” 15-year-old boy who saw them cuddling in a bus shelter.
That same year, serial killer Yousef Palani used a gay dating app to target single gay men in Sligo who lived alone. Over a four-day period, Palani arranged meetings with his victims before tying them up, stabbing them multiple times, and mutilating their bodies.
He was eventually convicted of killing Aidan Moffitt — whom he beheaded — and Michael Snee, and seriously injuring Anthony Burke. Police said he would have continued to kill gay men had he not been arrested.
Last year, a gay couple walking their dog in a park in Drogheda, Ireland, were attacked by a group of teens who threw stones at them while hurling anti-gay slurs at them, calling them “pedophiles,” and threatening to rape their dog.
The teens also physically assaulted the men, punching them and kicking them, breaking one man’s nose during the attack.
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