'Peaceful, silent' protest planned for Ballaghaderreen in wake of 'serious assault'

A peaceful, silent, candlelight protest will take place in Ballaghaderreen on Sunday evening organised by the Ballaghaderreen Concerned Citizens group.

The protest comes in the wake of the news that Gardaí are currently investigating "a serious assault" on a teenager, which occurred in the town centre just after midnight on Friday.

A Garda spokesperson said that the incident happened at around 12.10 a.m. this morning, Friday at Main Street, Ballaghaderreen. An area in the centre of the town had been sealed off by Gardaí earlier this morning, Friday.

The organisers of Sunday's protest said: "We need to highlight the fact that the town is seriously neglected by those in power. We are seeing an unprecedented rise in crime, anti-social behaviour and even serious crime, whilst we have barely any Garda presence, or let's face it, NO real Garda presence at all, we cannot tolerate this any longer.

"Please show your support on Sunday evening, meeting at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral car park, Pound Street, we will then walk in silence to the Garda barracks. We're hoping to be able to provide some candles, but please bring your own if possible, candles, lanterns etc," said the group.