Robert ‘Speedy’ Larkin was beaten to a pulp in Fairview Park at around 6pm last Wednesday and remains in intensive care in Beaumont Hospital
12:16, 27 Oct 2025Updated 17:40, 27 Oct 2025
In happier times: Daughter Leah Murray and her dad Robert ‘Speedy’ Larkin with the late Christy Dignam
The daughter of a man who is fighting for his life following a vicious attack in a Dublin park has urged witnesses to come forward, declaring “somebody saw something”.
Robert ‘Speedy’ Larkin, 53, was beaten to a pulp in Fairview Park around 6pm last Wednesday and remains in intensive care in Beaumont Hospital.
He suffered extensive head injuries resulting in multiple brain bleeds and facial fractures. His injuries were so bad, his daughter Leah Murray didn’t recognise him when the doctors brought her to his bedside.
Leah said her dad’s recovery is further complicated because he also has an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which is a tangle of blood vessels that creates irregular connections between arteries and veins in the brain. When he was diagnosed with this 10 years ago, medics told him any sort of trauma to the head could be fatal.
The horrific attack occurred at Fairview Park in north Dublin on Wednesday evening(Image: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos)
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Leah said: “He was attacked in Fairview Park, we don’t know by who, we don’t know how many people did it. But we have seen there have been a number of attacks in that park … [another man] was attacked by a group of teenagers. We don’t know if it’s the same people who done it to him.”
Leah said at present it’s “up in the air” if her dad pulls through. Medics have placed Robert into an induced coma to help his brain recover.
She added: “This isn’t an assault or an attack, this is attempted murder. Because I know for a fact he would have told them about his head.
There has been a spate of high profile attacks in Fairview Park in recent decades
“The right side of his head has more damage so he was probably unconscious and they were still kicking the head of him. We don’t know what this has done to him after he’s taken off sedation.”
Fighting back tears, Leah continued: “I’m terrified. I don’t want to have to turn around to my two-year-old son and tell him that his grandad isn’t coming back or when my daughter gets older that her grandad died before she even hit one.”
It’s understood Robert was in East Wall visiting a friend when he decided to head home but Leah said “he never made it home.”
The attack is being investigated by led by detectives in Clontarf who are currently trawling through CCTV to identify the perpetrators.
Leah said: “It’s a busy park, people had to have seen what happened. I just can’t get my head around why somebody would do this to him.
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“I hope they get caught, I hope justice serves them. I’d never like to see this happen to anyone else or arrive on their door. Someone had to have seen something, someone’s kid must have come home with blood on them.”
Over the years, there has been a spate of high profile attacks in Fairview Park. In 1982, Declan Flynn was beaten to death by a group of homophobic thugs.
Guido Nasi was just 17 years old and in Ireland for an English language course when he was left with catastrophic and life-changing injuries following a bottle attack in Fairview Park in July 1999. More recently in August, an Indian man was battered by a group of teens.
In a statement about last Wednesday’s attack, Gardai said they “are appealing for witnesses to a serious assault in Fairview Park, Dublin 3 on Wednesday evening, 22nd October 2025.
“Gardaí and emergency services responded to a reported assault near Annesley Bridge that occurred shortly after 6:00pm.
“A man, aged in his 50s, was brought to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and has since been transferred to Beaumont Hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.
“A technical examination of the scene was conducted by the Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit. Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this incident to contact them.
“Any persons who were in the area between 5:30pm and 6:30pm and who may have video footage (including dash-cam) are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí.
“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Clontarf Garda Station on 01 666 4800, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.”
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