A 22-year-old man is in critical condtion after he was assaulted in Galway city centre in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Gardaí said a number of youths became involved in a row outside a fast food outlet on Shop Street in the city at about 3.30am. One of them received what gardaí described as a “very serious head injury and fell to the ground”.
When officers and ambulance personnel arrived on the scene he was unconscious.
A Garda spokesman said there were as many as eight people involved in the fracas and the injured man is believed to be from Galway city.
He was taken to University Hospital Galway where is condition is critical. "The scene has been preserved for a technical examination," a Garda statement said.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses, in particular anyone who may have been on Shop St between 3.20am and 3.40am early on Sunday.
They can contact Galway Garda station on 091 538000 where an incident room has been set up, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.