Assault alleged at Dublin ATM

Gardaí in Dublin are conducting inquiries into an allegation that a man was assaulted and robbed while using an ATM on O’Connell Street earlier this week.

Jonathan Bourke (36), of Leeson Park, said he was hit on the back of the head while withdrawing money from an ATM beside Clery’s department store between 9.30pm and 9.45pm on Tuesday.

Mr Bourke said he fell to the ground unconscious and was then robbed of his wallet, phone and money while he lay on the street. He said he came around in St Vincent’s Hospital and that seven staples had been required to treat his head wound.

A Garda spokesman said detectives were attempting to establish the facts surrounding the incident and that they would be examining CTTV footage to aid the investigation. He added that no official complaint had been received as of yet and that the investigation was at a preliminary stage.

Mr Bourke, who said this was only his second trip to Ireland in 15 years, said a witness had told him that he was assaulted by “Romanian Gypsies”.

He said he had lived and worked as an anti-corruption adviser to organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, in some of the roughest cities in the developing world, such as Lagos in Nigeria and Kampala in Uganda, and that he was very surprised and disappointed he had been attacked on his return to Dublin.

“Dublin is a city of culture,” he said. “We can’t have people wrecking life on what is supposed to be Ireland’s Champs-Élysées. “It was quite a welcome back but was not as horrific as it might have been.”

Mr Bourke said he intended to speak to gardaí about the incident and that he hoped his assailants would be pursued.