Eric 🇮🇪

Just over a year ago, I nearly became another statistic. On 18 March 2025 in Waterford City, I was the victim of a serious knife assault. Like many victims, I trusted that the criminal justice system would do its job. I believed that once someone was charged in connection with such serious violence, public safety would be the priority. Today, another family is grieving the loss of a 21 year old man following a separate fatal stabbing incident that is now the subject of an active Garda investigation. Out of respect for that investigation, I will not speculate on guilt, innocence, or outcomes. Those matters belong to the courts. But I do believe there are questions that deserve answers. How are individuals charged with serious violent offences monitored while on bail? The individual charged in connection with the assault on me was arrested, charged, and subsequently released on bail with conditions that included not entering Waterford City, This was after months of him hiding in the UK and bragging about the attack on TikTok saying if he gets jail he gets jail so what. THIS IS PUBLIC IMFORMATION AMD ARRESTS HAVE BEEN MADE AND COURT HAS BEEN ADJOURNED! reports indicate these bail conditions were ALLEGEDLY breached on multiple occasions, including attendance at events in the city all posted on social media. That same individual is now ALLEGEDLY main suspect in a separate murder investigation involving another stabbing, with investigations ongoing. This raises serious questions about bail decisions and monitoring of individuals charged with violent knife crime, especially when multiple victims were stabbed in one night in the same city. What happens when bail conditions are allegedly breached? Are victims and the wider public being adequately protected from repeat violence? These are not political questions. They are public safety questions. I know what it is like to be on the receiving end of serious violence. I know how quickly lives can be changed forever. My thoughts today are with the family of the young man who lost his life, and with every victim of violent crime who has been left wondering whether more could have been done. Ireland deserves a justice system that protects innocent people, supports victims, and takes violent offending seriously. Public safety must remain the priority.