Over 100 Gardaí Called To Bar Brawl

Ten people are due to appear before Dublin District Court this afternoon in connection with a 'siege' at a pub in north Co Dublin yesterday.

The incident happened at John D's bar in The Square, Balbriggan, when a number of customers took over the pub, forcing staff and other patrons to flee.

At one stage, Gardaí closed the centre of the town after becoming involved in a stand-off with those inside the building.

The viscious pub fight is believed to have involving members of the Travelling community and led to over a hundred police oficers being called to the scene.

During the incident, one garda was brought to hospital suffering from an eye injury after the fighting broke out in the Balbriggan bar.

The group of mostly men had been drinking in the pub for some time before fighting erupted when 15 Travellers barricaded themselves inside.

The interior of the pub in Balbriggan was seriously damaged and many of the windows broken after the group began throwing bottles and furniture.

The riot squad, joined by local gardai and reinforcements from nearby stations, including Swords, Donabate, Baldoyle and Lusk, rushed to the scene after the alert was raised at about 6.45pm.

Incoming traffic to The Square area of Balbriggan, where the pub is located, was diverted and for a short period, there was no access to the centre of the town, with both roads blocked.

The Travellers are not believed to be normally in the local area and it is unclear what provoked the incident.

(DW/BMcC)