Shankill, Co Dublin, has been deemed a "no-go" area by a city-centre language school after a series of attacks on foreign students staying there.
The Swan Training Institute had been placing up to 1,000 students, mainly from Italy and Austria, with host families in the south Dublin suburb each year.
However, three serious attacks over a period of 10 months have resulted in the Grafton Street school withdrawing Shankill from its list of accommodation locations. Its next group booking at the end of August is being placed in Ballinteer and Rathfarnham.
The school's accommodation officer, Ms Marion Kelly, said Shankill had been originally chosen to house students because it was considered a safe location, several miles from the city centre.
She said the school had been using Shankill for several years. "We have always considered it a nice, quiet residential area and we have some great families out there. It's a big disappointment to the school to lose the area," she said.
The most recent attack came on June 17th when a group of Italian students, coming home from the Comhaltas cultural centre in Monkstown, were set upon by youths at a bridge close to Shankill DART station.
Two of the students suffered broken noses. Another suffered a burst lip and bruising. "The rest were traumatised," said Ms Kelly.
Last September an Austrian student was attacked with an iron bar at Rathsallagh Park, while the following month a group of Austrians were set upon by five youths, leaving one of them so badly injured he had to be flown home for facial reconstruction in Austria.
The teenager's parents have since sued the Austrian agency which organised the trip to Ireland, claiming Shankill was comparable to the Bronx in New York.
Ms Kelly said the school had to consider issues of liability when placing the students in accommodation.
"It has happened three times in one area now. As a result, we feel Shankill is a no-go area for groups. The risks are too high," she said.
The school's last group to stay in Shankill left the area on July 1st. Between 50 and 60 local families used to play host to the visitors each year.
