The Garda Ombudsman is appealing for witnesses following the “serious harm” of a man in Dublin city centre after he interacted with gardaí.
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday, left the 51-year-old with serious injuries.
It is understood gardaí observed the man in what they believed was a highly intoxicated state, and while interacting with him, he fell to the ground and struck his head. Doctors feared he may have suffered serious brain injuries.
The exact nature of the interaction with gardaí is not clear.
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Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, is tasked with investigating complaints regarding the conduct of gardaí and deaths with a connection to Garda activities.
Gardaí are legally required to report any incident involving death or serious injury to the ombudsman if it occurred following an interaction with a member of the force.
A referral to the ombudsman does not necessarily mean a garda is accused of wrongdoing.
Garda headquarters did not respond to specific queries about the nature of the involvement of members in Friday’s incident.
It said it referred the matter to Fiosrú “following an interaction between a member of the public and an on duty Garda member on Friday, August 15th,2025.
“As this matter has been referred to the police ombudsman, any further queries should be directed to Fiosrú.”
Fiosrú, formerly known as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman (Gsoc), said it wants to hear from anyone who was near the Holiday Inn on O’Connell Street at about 4.15am on Friday.
This includes passing vehicles and taxis that may have dashcam or mobile phone footage from the area.
One of the ombudsman’s on call investigators attended the scene.
“Anyone with information which may be of assistance to this independent investigation is asked to contact Fiosrú at 0818 600 800 or info@fiosrú.ie,” it said.
