Two men are to appear in court on Friday charged in connection with an assault on teenager Alanna Quinn Idris and her friend in Ballyfermot, Dublin last week.
Gardaí on Thursday arrested the men, both in their late teens, on suspicion of involvement in the attack, which happened near the civic offices on the Ballyfermot Road on the night of December 30th.
Officers searched a number of locations during the operation and seized items including mobile phones which were taken for further examination.
The men were being detained at Garda stations in west Dublin on Thursday night under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows for them to be questioned for up to 24 hours without charge.
A Garda spokesman said they had been charged and would appear before a judge in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Friday morning.
Ms Quinn Idris suffered a ruptured eyeball and fractures to her cheek and eye socket. She also suffered broken teeth and was left with a large wound just below her injured eye.
An online fundraising campaign established to support the 17-year-old and her injured friend had reached €80,000 last night.
Her mother, Jamie Quinn, has said that doctors have informed her daughter there was a 90 per cent chance that she would lose the sight in her eye, which may have to be removed.
Ms Quinn Idris, who was treated at St James’s Hospital and the Dublin Eye & Ear Hospital, needed to undergo surgery, but has since been discharged and is recovering at home in Ballyfermot.
The young man she was with, who suffered stab wounds to his arm, has also been discharged from hospital.
The two were assaulted by a group after they alighted from a bus at about 9.30pm.
Ms Quinn Idris and her friend were verbally abused as they travelled from Liffey Valley shopping centre to Ballyfermot. When they got off the bus, other youths arrived from a number of directions and the attack occurred.
The injured girl’s mother said she had been harassed by a group of “tormentors” in the Ballyfermot area for about five years, including verbal attacks and having eggs and cans of drink thrown at her.
The family believes last Thursday’s assault was a continuation of that campaign.
