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In happier times: Daughter Leah Murray and her dad Robert ‘Speedy’ Larkin with the late Christy Dignam<\/p>\nRobert \u2018Speedy\u2019 Larkin was beaten to a pulp in Fairview Park at around 6pm last Wednesday and remains in intensive care in Beaumont Hospital<\/p>\n
12:16, 27 Oct 2025Updated 17:40, 27 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
In happier times: Daughter Leah Murray and her dad Robert ‘Speedy’ Larkin with the late Christy Dignam<\/p>\n
The daughter of a man who is fighting for his life following a vicious attack in a Dublin park<\/a> has urged witnesses to come forward, declaring \u201csomebody saw something\u201d.<\/p>\n Robert \u2018Speedy\u2019 Larkin, 53, was beaten to a pulp in Fairview Park around 6pm last Wednesday and remains in intensive care in Beaumont Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n He suffered extensive head injuries resulting in multiple brain bleeds and facial fractures. His injuries were so bad, his daughter Leah Murray didn\u2019t recognise him when the doctors brought her to his bedside.<\/p>\n Leah said her dad\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Irish Mirror<\/a>, Leah said: \u201cHe was attacked in Fairview Park, we don\u2019t know by who, we don\u2019t know how many people did it. But we have seen there have been a number of attacks in that park \u2026 [another man] was attacked by a group of teenagers. We don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the same people who done it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Leah said at present it\u2019s \u201cup in the air\u201d if her dad pulls through. Medics have placed Robert into an induced coma to help his brain recover.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThis isn\u2019t an assault or an attack, this is attempted murder. Because I know for a fact he would have told them about his head.<\/p>\n \u201cThe right side of his head has more damage so he was probably unconscious and they were still kicking the head of him. We don\u2019t know what this has done to him after he\u2019s taken off sedation.\u201d<\/p>\n Fighting back tears, Leah continued: \u201cI\u2019m terrified. I don\u2019t want to have to turn around to my two-year-old son and tell him that his grandad isn\u2019t coming back or when my daughter gets older that her grandad died before she even hit one.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s understood Robert was in East Wall visiting a friend when he decided to head home but Leah said \u201che never made it home.\u201d<\/p>\n The attack is being investigated by led by detectives in Clontarf who are currently trawling through CCTV to identify the perpetrators.<\/p>\n Leah said: \u201cIt\u2019s a busy park, people had to have seen what happened. I just can\u2019t get my head around why somebody would do this to him.<\/p>\n The Irish Mirror’s Crime Writers Michael O’Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up<\/a> and get it delivered to your inbox every week<\/p>\n \u201cI hope they get caught, I hope justice serves them. I\u2019d never like to see this happen to anyone else or arrive on their door. Someone had to have seen something, someone\u2019s kid must have come home with blood on them.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Guido Nasi<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n In a statement about last Wednesday\u2019s attack, Gardai<\/a> said they \u201care appealing for witnesses to a serious assault in Fairview Park, Dublin 3 on Wednesday evening, 22nd October 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cGarda\u00ed and emergency services responded to a reported assault near Annesley Bridge that occurred shortly after 6:00pm.<\/p>\n \u201cA 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.<\/p>\n \u201cA technical examination of the scene was conducted by the Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit. Garda\u00ed are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this incident to contact them.<\/p>\n \u201cAny 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 Garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: <\/strong>Sign up here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_90299989jpgThe.jpg\")
The horrific attack occurred at Fairview Park in north Dublin on Wednesday evening(Image: Stephen Collins\/Collins Photos)<\/p>\n![\"There](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_00101407.jpg\")
There has been a spate of high profile attacks in Fairview Park in recent decades<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760694011_883_0_OTOOLE-HEALY.jpg\")
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