Four arrested and two hospitalised following Laois cemetery mass brawl
Arrests made after violent outbursts at Portlaoise cemetery mass
Two men and two juvenile males have been arrested following a violent brawl that broke out at a Laois cemetery mass on Sunday.
St Peter and Paul’s cemetery in Portlaoise celebrated their annual blessing of the graves on Sunday May 31, when a fight broke out between individuals in attendance.
In a statement made to the Leinster Express / Laois Live, gardaí stated that while on duty at an event at Stradbally Road, Portlaoise on Sunday, four males were arrested following a public order incident at around 1:00pm.
“The four males (two aged in their 20s and two juveniles) are being detained at Garda stations in the Eastern Region and have been charged to appear before a special sitting of Portlaoise District Court on Monday 1 June at 10:30am,” the spokesperson said.
Two people (a male in his 20’s and a juvenile male) are being treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Gardaí have said that investigations are ongoing.
The Leinster Express / Laois Live understands that a policing plan was in place as gardaí had intelligence that an incident was possible. There was a large presence of local uniformed gardaí on the scene, backed by the Garda Public Order Unit.
It is understood that the incident happened when gardaí were dealing with a small non-violent disturbance involving some local members of the travelling community. It's believed that the violence flared at a separate location in the cemetery at this point.
The situation worsened when a small number of Travellers who are not from Laois entered the cemetery.
Gardaí confirmed that several people were injured and that knives were used in the row.
They said the Garda presence and response contained the incident and prevented a more serious escalation in the violence.
Gardaí appealed to anyone who was at the Mass and who may have video footage of the violence to provide it to Portlaoise Garda Station to help with what is an ongoing investigation.