There have been four incidents in the Rochestown area in recent days.

Cork community calls crisis meeting following a spate of 'unnerving violence'

A CORK community will hold a crisis meeting tonight following a spate of “unnerving violence” which included a vicious assault on a pensioner.

Four incidents in recent days have sparked unease in the Rochestown area, including an assault where a man in his late 60s was beaten up and robbed.

The man left a shop in Mount Oval on Saturday night, just after 9pm, when he was set upon by five teenagers - three males and two females - and had his wallet and wedding ring stolen after refusing to hand over his phone. He sustained a head injury and was left shaken by the incident.

Earlier in the same evening at nearby Garryduff, a 17-year-old was attacked and suffered a number of injuries to his nose and chest.

A Garda investigation has been launched into the incident but no arrests have yet been made.

On Friday night, Bus Eireann suspended the 216 bus at Maryborough Hill due to anti-social behaviour, while another alleged assault on a teen is believed to have taken place at the entrance to the Mount Oval estate.

Local Councillor Mary Rose Desmond said Douglas Garda station recently lost its community garda and a sergeant, while the station is only opened sporadically.

“The increase in anti-social behaviour is an absolute scourge at the moment," she said.

"The attacks we have been hearing about are extremely worrying and I think the community is massively concerned.

“Douglas hasn’t had a community garda since the summer and there is a massive need for Douglas Garda station to be opened all the time.

"However, I would be most concerned that we see the active presence of Gardaí on the streets. This has been building up for a while and the gardaí in the area working hard but they need additional resources allocated to the area.

“My priority would be for regular patrols in the community."

The Rowan Hill residents group will meet at the Mount Oval bar this evening at 7pm and locals living in Mount Oval, Thornbury, Foxwood, Forthill, The Borough, Landsborough, Monfield, Belmont and Maryborough Ridge have all been invited to attend.

Business owners, local councillors and gardaí will also be in attendance.

A Rowan Hill resident, who didn't want to be named for fear of being targeted, told The Echo that the area is suffering from a lack of gardaí.

“I think that the people who are carrying out these assaults and anti-social behaviour know there is very little Garda presence in the area,” they said.

“The level of violence is really unnerving. The man that was assaulted was just going about his business. The shop he was attacked near is frequented by us all regularly.

“The shop owner has said they believe the teenagers were not local. The general feeling is that these youths are getting dropped off and they take off with their alcohol to the high section at the back of Broadale. This is affecting people’s lives and locals are very unnerved,” they added.