Gardaí investigate violence at Dalymount Park

An investigation is continuing into crowd violence at an Airtricity League football match which resulted in two arrests and minor injuries to gardaí.

The scuffles broke out during a Friday night fixture between Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers at Dalymount Park.

There is a longstanding rivalry between the clubs which has previously led to clashes between a minority of fans on either side.

Gardaí deployed the public order unit to ensure the situation did not deteriorate. It was contained and rival fans were prevented from reaching each other although two gardaí received minor injuries as a result.

Two men were arrested and brought to Mountjoy garda station and were released without charge a short time later. An investigation is underway.

The incident was sparked when, following a goal by Shamrock Rovers player Gavin Brennan in the 76th minute, a fan ran onto the pitch sparking a response from other supporters.

Footage of the incident playing out on social media shows supporters throwing objects at each other and beginning to fight before being bundled to the ground by stewards eager to quash any outbreak of violence.

Bohemians FC, whose ground the match was played in, released a statement condemning the conduct of a “minority” of supporters.

“Bohemian FC wishes to express our disappointment with the small minority in attendance who were responsible for causing crowd disturbances which interrupted tonight’s game against Shamrock Rovers at Dalymount Park,” it said.

"The club will work closely with stewards and An Garda Síochána to identify the individuals responsible."

The incident prompted criticism on social media. The SportsJOE.ie website posted images and reported: “A bunch of utter morons fought each other on the pitch at Dalymount last night”.

There was also a backlash at the negative image the reporting gives to the Irish league.