Roisin
Prendergast (20) and her girlfriend 17-year-old Ciara Murphy were left
bleeding and unconscious following an unprovoked attack on Cruises
Street in Limerick last Sunday week.
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The
young women were walking in the direction of a food outlet at
approximately 2am when two men began "firing homophobic slurs" at the
couple.
"We
had literally left our apartment only minutes before when these two
grown men started shouting abuse at us about being lesbians,"
Tipperary-born Roisin said.
"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."
The
young women 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 verbal abuse quickly escalated to physical violence, according to Ms Murphy, who is originally from Newcastle West.
"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 - after taking
the girls' hats - but one returned "which was the worst part" of the
assault, according to Ms Prendergast.
"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," she said.
When
the unprovoked vicious attack was finally over, Ms Murphy lay
unconscious on the street following a knock to her head, while Ms
Prendergast had been beaten and was in shock beside her.
Two
passers-by came upon the young women some time later and immediately
alerted the emergency services and the gardai, who responded to the
scene.
Gardai
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.
The two women said they are overwhelmed with the support they have received on social media following the attack.
"So
far we have no information as to who the two men are. But we have been
inundated with messages of support," said Ms Prendergast.
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