South American MMA fighter and Irish pal due in court in connection with ‘savage’ Temple Bar attack

This paper has learned that gardai managed to recognise the suspects as they walked around the Dublin area last Friday

The man, who was attacked by two men on Cope Street, was discovered unconscious and brought to Beaumont Hospital where his condition is described as critical.(Image: Sam Boal/Collins Photo)

An MMA fighter and his pal are due in court on Monday, charged over a savage Temple Bar assault that left a man fighting for his life.

This paper has learned that gardai managed to recognise the suspects as they walked around the Dublin area last Friday. It came after officers had earlier managed to obtain high-quality CCTV footage depicting the horrific attack, which occurred on Cope Street in the heart of Temple Bar at 12:30am last Thursday.

The footage showed both attackers – one of whom was wearing a distinctive ‘Peaky Blinders’ flat cap – as they brutally kicked, punched and stamped on the victim’s head – before one of them dropped an E-bike on his neck area as he lay lifeless on the street.

Officers arrested two men – one a South American native, and the other an Irish national, and have since charged them in connection with the incident. However both men are only due to appear in court on Monday.

The South American national has resided in Ireland for some time. His pal, the Irishman, was also charged in connection with the incident.

It comes after gardai have now identified the victim – having earlier put out a picture of a distinctive tattoo on his forearm – bearing what appeared to be a Scottish flag. This paper has learned that the victim has been residing in Ireland for some time – and has connections here. He remains in a critical condition in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.

In a statement over the weekend, gardai confirmed that the two men who were being held over the incident had since been charged.

“The men, aged in their 20s and 30s, are due to appear before the District Court at the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday, 23rd February 2026 at 10.30am,” a garda spokesperson said.

Last week this paper revealed the horrific details of the assault, all of which was captured on camera. The two men repeatedly punched and kicked the victim – stamping on his head and dropping an E-bike down on his neck area during the sustained assault. One of the attackers, who had walked away, came back and stood over the lifeless victim and stripped him of his shoes and lobbed them over a fence.

It comes as several business owners in Temple Bar have spoken out of their outrage and frustration over the incident, which they say comes amid a spate of drug dealing and other anti-social incidents over the past while.

Alan Cooke, owner of jewellery and trophy shop John J Cooke & Co, which is just metres from where the attack on Thursday happened, told this paper that the incident comes after years of calling for better lighting in the area.

“It’s shocking for a start and that should not happen. But one of the reasons it’s happening is that when the businesses close down at night time and they turn off their lights, the streets are in darkness. That’s the problem and it always has been the problem down here in Temple Bar,” he told us.

“There are real issues with lighting on the streets here and I’m not the only one who has raised this. We’ve had meetings with Lord mayors. I’ve written to the Department of Justice, the guards on Pearse Street, not once -but several times. I’ve written to every politician in the Dail and nothing has happened.”

Mr Cooke, who says the routine drug dealing and assaults in the area is affecting his long-standing business, added:

“I’d say it (assaults) probably happens once a month and then the drug dealing is constant and it leads to little rows. But nothing like what happened the other night.

“People are scared sh*tless coming in here. I had a woman in here before and I was doing a job for her. I had said to her, you’d better not go out there now. There were about four people dealing on the steps of my shop. So I had to hold the poor woman, put her sitting down and wait for them to finish dealing and then let her out the door and walk her up the street.

Meanwhile, Stephen Kennedy, Chairperson of the Aston Quay and Temple Bar Business and Residents Alliance called for more gardaí on the streets in Temple Bar.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Kennedy, who owns Copper and Straw coffee shop in Temple Bar, said: “I think there’s a new approach to public order policing in the city centre,” he said. “There are more guards on the street – there still aren’t enough but there are more.”

“Our message isn’t that the situation is resolved – it’s not. The city centre is a complex, challenging place to live, to work and to run a business. It’s important to acknowledge the progress over the last while but we just can’t be complacent,” he said.

It comes as Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly described Thursday’s attack as “a really serious incident,” while insisting that Dublin remains a safe city.

“This is just the nature of big cities. Dublin is a safe city, Ireland is a safe country, many of the reports like the Global Peace Index, you can see how safe Ireland is on that. We’re currently sitting number two on the safest countries list”.

“We’ve assigned a very experienced senior investigating officer to it, the serious crime team in the South Central Division in Dublin are pouring all the resources needed towards that,” he said of the attack.

“We have a really good track record in identifying perpetrators and bringing them to justice so I would certainly hope that we will see positive results around that.”

Meanwhile Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said: “The important thing is that the culprits are brought to justice and punished for the vicious crime that we saw,”

In a press release on Thursday gardai have made the unusual step of asking the public for their assistance in identifying the man – by describing a tattoo on his forearm. The tattoo is described as a blue and white flag with the words ‘Ceol is Beatha’, meaning ‘music is life’.

Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to this incident to contact them. Anyone who was in the area of Cope Street between midnight and 1:00am, and who may have any information about the incident is asked to contact investigating Gardaí.

Anyone with camera footage (including mobile phone and dash-cam footage) is asked to make it available. Gardaí can be contacted at Pearse Street Garda Station on 01 666 9000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google means you’ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply click here.