Gardai in Dublin are appealing for information about how a 24-year-old student sustained serious head injuries early on Saturday. In particular, they would like to hear from an American or Canadian man, in his mid-20s, who was at the scene when the Gardai and the ambulance arrived.
The student, in a critical condition on a life support machine in St Vincent's Hospital, was found by a fire brigade ambulance crew in the stairwell of the Rape Crisis Centre in Lower Leeson Street around 7 a.m., after a call by a member of the public to emergency services.
Yesterday, five people were questioned at Harcourt Terrace Garda Station in connection with the incident. They were later released without being charged. The man, who gardai say had suffered serious head injuries, was a student at Dublin Institute of Technology and was from Blackrock.
Gardai do not know if he sustained his injuries accidentally or as the result of an attack. They do not have a record of a row in the area on Saturday.
Det Supt P.J. Brown, who is leading the investigation, appealed for information. "We also want to hear from anybody who was in the vicinity of Buck Whaley's nightclub from around 3.30 a.m."
However, Gardai stress they do not know if the man was in a nightclub in the vicinity earlier. They are asking anyone who was in the area between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. to contact them.
Anyone with information should contact Harcourt Terrace Station at 661-7104 or 666-9500.