Gardai in Kildare say the teenager who was seriously assaulted on Sunday evening in Maynooth may have been attacked by someone who had been on the bus with her.

Kym Owens, a first year student from Castleblayney, County Monaghan was returning to her digs near Maynooth University when she was set upon.

It is not yet clear if Kim was robbed, but she sustained serious facial injuries and is in a serious condition in hospital.

She travelled on the A to B bus service from Monaghan town via Castleblayney – arriving in Maynooth at 8.15pm.

Superintendent Gerry Wall from Leixlip Garda station made this appeal:”People who may have been on that bus, did you get on or off that bus, did you arrive on the bus in Maynooth, were you in the Maynooth area, did you see anything?”