Mayor of Galway Niall McNelis has spoken out about an incident of violence in Galway.
A young girl was attacked on the city’s Wolfe Tone Bridge on the evening of September 7, and McNelis was also punched when he tried to intervene.
McNelis, who is a member of The Labour Party, expressed specific disappointment that more onlookers were not prepared to help the woman being attacked.
On Twitter, McNelis wrote, “Cannot believe a young girl was being assaulted tonight on Wolfetone Bridge & when I intervened got punched, most onlookers wanted to film it & only one woman assisted! Spent the eve giving a statement… Very saddened.”
Cannot believe a young girl was being assaulted tonight on Wolfetone Bridge & when I intervened got punched, most onlookers wanted to film it & only one woman assisted! Spent the eve giving a statement…very saddened
— Niall McNelis (@niall_mcnelis) September 7, 2018
Speaking to JOE on Monday morning, McNelis revealed that he came upon the situation when he heard a lady screaming at a man to get off her and leave her alone.
When McNelis approached the scene he told the man to back off, at which point the man implied he had a knife, and gave McNelis “a good wallop” in the jaw before “doing a runner”.
McNelis also said that the Gardaí arrived on the scene within eight minutes and quickly constrained the man after they learned he’d claimed to have a knife. A file has been sent to the DPP and the man is set to appear in court.
On the matter of onlookers filming on their phones rather than helping, McNelis said that he would hope to see more “civic spirit”. The Mayor of Galway asked “When did it become the norm to pull out your phone when you see someone being attacked?”
He added that just one other woman helped him while as many as 20 people watched the scene with their phones out.
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