Five teenage boys who were arrested in connection with a serious assault on a boy in Co Meath have all been released without charge.
Three teenage boys were arrested in the Navan area this morning, and two others were arrested this afternoon for alleged offences under Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
They were all questioned by specialist gardaí because they are minors.
Gardaí say "a file will be referred in the first instance for consideration for admission to the Juvenile Diversion Programme in accordance with Part 4 of the Children Act, 2001".
The attack in Navan, on Monday afternoon, was filmed and posted on social media. Gardaí said the boy was treated in hospital for serious facial injuries.
Gardaí have deemed the attacked to be a hate crime and the investigation is ongoing.
It is being investigated as a serious assault but is recorded on the Garda PULSE system as an offence believed to relate to a victim's age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he was glad to hear that arrests had taken place in what is an active garda investigation.
He added that he spoke to the young man and his mother over a video call yesterday to express solidarity and support and they were glad that the gardaí had engaged with them and the school.
Minister for Education Norma Foley said she had been in contact with the school and the victim was expected to return in the next few days.
The services of the National Educational Psychological Services were available to the school which she said also has its own disciplinary procedures.
"Basically it will be on a step-by-step basis, whatever the needs of the young person might be, that they will be appropriately met," Ms Foley said.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Foley said there are approximately one million students attending school and the vast majority are inclusive and welcoming.
"That does not in any way take away from the awfulness of this incident," she added.
A video of the attack - posted on social media - has been viewed more than six million times.
Ms Foley said the posting of the attack online adds to the horror of it. She said it makes it very difficult to remove the video when it is shared so many times and she urged people not to share it.
"We would be urging people not to share it. Not to share content of that nature online," Ms Foley added.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children expressed disappointment that the video is still circulating on social media.
Head of policy and public affairs manager with the ISPCC Fiona Jennings said she is "incredibly disappointed" that the video has not been removed from social networks, but is not surprised.
"Currently we're just not set up in terms of being able to compel social media companies to remove such content in a timely manner, and [when] we do have the online safety commissioner in place, they will have powers to do that, so that's really positive," said Ms Jennings.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Also speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said: "Often people come across something online and it shocks them. It horrifies them. It saddens them. And in order perhaps to share their empathy or to empathise with those particular things they share them.
"But in fact, that's actually feeding the algorithm that promotes and amplifies this content, which in turn actually brings it to a wider audience.
"So, it's really important that while intentions may be good, they can be somewhat misguided. It's really important that when we do come across such content that we don't share it, we don't comment on it and that we do report it to the platform to get it removed."
Coimisiún na Meán
The new commission for regulating broadcasters and online media, Coimisiún na Meán, said it is very concerned about the video of the attack circulating on social media.
In a statement, it said that when they are fully operational, they will be enforcing rules requiring platforms to speedily remove and limit the spread of this sort of harmful content.
In the meantime, it says that given the seriousness of this case, the Online Safety Commissioner has contacted the main platforms and asked them to give the commission a report on what they have done to remove the video and to ensure that that it is not re-uploaded.
The statement says that Coimisiún na Meán is currently finalising its workplan for the next 12 months, which it says will bring clarity to the steps that will be taken in its start-up phase which runs from now until February 2024, when the Digital Services Act is expected to enter into force.
It says that the workplan will include the process for developing codes and rules for online safety.
Online safety codes will set standards for how providers minimise the availability of harmful content and minimise the risks that it poses, it added.
The Coimisiún says they will be considering a range of obligations that might include matters such as how providers handle complaints about harmful content, how they protect children from age-inappropriate content and how they minimise the number of people exposed to harmful content.
It says protecting minors from harmful content is extremely high on the Coimisiún's agenda and will play a key part in their online safety codes.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone with information on the attack to contact Navan Garda Station on 046-9036100.
Will additional reporting by Helen Donohue and Fergal O'Brien
