Irish lesbian couple beaten unconscious in homophobic attack

A young lesbian couple have been beaten unconscious in a homophobic attack in Ireland.

Roisin Prendergast, 20, and her girlfriend Ciara Murphy, 17, were walking to a takeaway in Limerick at 2am on February 9 when they were targeted by two unidentified men.

Image: Facebook/Roisin Prendergast

After “firing homophobic slurs” at the couple, the men reportedly attacked the pair, leaving Prendergast bleeding and Murphy unconscious at the side of the road after suffering a blow to the head.

“We had literally left our apartment only minutes before when these two grown men started shouting abuse at us about being lesbians,” Ms Prendergast told The Irish Independent.

“Initially we shouted back as we are used to this kind of abuse – but then they walked back towards us and started shoving us roughly.

“Suddenly, the men pushed us to the ground. They were stepping on our chests, they kneed and kicked us,” the student said.

The men appeared to leave after approximately ten minutes, taking the girls’ hats with them, but soon returned.

“We thought it was over. Then one guy came back, threw Ciara against a shop window and ripped up her hat in front of her,” explained Ms Prendergast.

The couple have described the men as being aged in their early to mid-20s and said they were “well-dressed, as if coming back from a night out”.

The women were helped by passers-by who came across the pair sometime later and immediately alerted the emergency services and the police, who responded to the scene.

The local police have launched an investigation into the incident – but they say that the CCTV footage on the street of the incident is of too poor quality to be used for identification purposes.

In a post on Facebook following the attack, Prendergast wrote: “I know our bruises will heal, I know we will be ok but this is not something I am going to let go.

“Watching someone you love getting hurt while you yourself are getting hurt is not something anyone should ever have to endure straight or gay. This to me was a hate crime.

“I am finished crying, today starts the first of many actions which will be taken to get justice.”

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