Victim says attack has not changed love for Ireland

The Spanish man brutally beaten with a golf club in Cork City was reunited with his young son yesterday after being released from hospital.

Jordi Roca, 39, from Valencia, said that he was looking forward to spending time with two-year-old Oliver as he recovers from the vicious attack.

“I just want to grab him and hug him,” Mr Roca said as he left Cork University Hospital (CUH) just before 4pm.

“All I could think about during the attack was the hope that I would see him again.”

Mr Roca suffered a severe head injury when he was beaten with a golf club while walking with four friends along White Street, near the city centre, at 10.30pm.

He was attacked after a group of up to 10 youths demanded they hand over cigarettes and their phones.

Mr Roca, who works in Sexton’s newsagents on the Old Blackrock Road, said the incident had not changed his view of Cork City or its people.

“I love the Irish people and these people [his attackers] are not Irish,” he said.

Supt Barry McPolin said detectives are following a definite line of enquiry and patrols had been stepped up in the area before the attack.

Independent Cllr Mick Finn said locals and business owners in the historic South Parish were shocked by the incident.

He said they have, since last October, been highlighting their concerns about gangs drinking in the area.

“I know of at least eight serious attacks in the general South Parish and city centre areas in recent weeks,” he said.

In the most serious incidents, a man almost lost an eye after a bottle attack near Greenmount school, another man suffered a severe head injury in an assault on the Grand Parade recently, and another man was subjected to a vicious beating on Douglas Street before Christmas.

He said these attacks prove the time has now come for the city to consider introducing a “security levy” on late-night businesses, including pubs, clubs and fast-food outlets, to help provide more gardaí on the beat.

The scheme was introduced in some Australian cities where police resources were under pressure.

“If the excuse here is that resources for gardaí have been reduced, then let’s examine the idea,” said Mr Finn.

“The levy could be applied to businesses with late licences, or on places that open after 1am.

“It would benefit pubs and clubs in the long-run by making the city centre safer and encouraging more people to come in.”