Calls for calm in Dublin amid ‘disgraceful scenes’ after children injured in knife attack

Protesters can be seen setting Garda cars on fire as violence breaks out in Dublin following a knife attack outside a school, as ITV News' Louise Scott reports

Police and politicians have called for calm and warned against misinformation after hundreds rioters took to the streets in Dublin following a knife attack on a woman and children on Thursday.

Violence erupted and looters smashed into stores in the city centre, with flames filing the streets from buses, cars, trams and bins which were torched by protesters.

Earlier in the day, three young children were injured following a knife attack outside a school on Parnell Square East in the north inner-city.

A woman was seriously injured and a five-year-old girl is undergoing emergency treatment for her injuries, Irish police have said.

The two other children, a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, sustained less serious injuries.

Gardai said a man who sustained serious injuries is a person of interest in their investigation.

They ruled out any terrorist link and praised members of the public who intervened following the attack.

The scene of the incident is close to Irish language-medium primary school Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire.

A Garda public order unit was deployed in the area around Parnell Square, Parnell Street and O’Connell Street as protesters gathered and violent scenes unfolded close to the site of the attack.

There were clashes with police late into the night as some demonstrators let off flares and fireworks, while others grabbed chairs, stools and traffic cones outside bars and restaurants.

Crowds of rioters looted a Foot Locker and JD Sports store on the Irish capital's O’Connell Steet, while bottles were thrown at Gardai and the Luas trams service was suspended after coming under attack.

The city was shutdown, with the gardai and protesters blocking roads and a nearby bridge.

Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee labelled the scenes “intolerable”, and said a “thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc”.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” is behind disorder in the capital.

Ms McEntee said the real tragedy of the day must be remembered, and an investigation allowed to happen.

“A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc,” she said.

“We will not tolerate a small number using an appalling incident to spread division. I would appeal for calm in the city centre as An Garda Siochana carry out their work – attacks on members of An Garda Siochana must be utterly condemned and will be dealt with severely."

Mr Harris called for calm and spoke out against the spreading of misinformation.

Speaking to media at Mountjoy Garda Station on Thursday evening, he confirmed that a number of Garda vehicles have been damaged.

He said some individuals were using the earlier attack “for their own ends… and a hooligan faction who are only interested in causing damage and mayhem in the city centre and they’re using the opportunity for that as well”.

“I think there’s disgraceful scenes in terms of a major investigation, the maintenance of a scene and the gathering of evidence,” he said.

“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence.

“We are drafting in resources to deal with that and that will be dealt with properly. I’ve given full direction to our resources here in respect of making arrests and bringing offenders to justice.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure that we police the streets, and part of that is we ask people to act responsibly and not to listen to the misinformation and rumour that is circulating on social media."

Mr Harris cautioned: “The facts have yet to emerge, and will take time to fully emerge.” He said the motive for the afternoon attack “is not clear to us at this moment in time”.

Irish premier Mr Varadkar thanked the emergency services and said: “We are all shocked by the incident which has taken place in Parnell Square."

Speaking at the scene Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the school incident caused “shock and horror” and left children traumatised.

She added: “Our heart goes out to the whole school community, to the children, the parents, the teachers.

“I know that the gardai acted very swiftly in this matter, but this is certainly the last thing that any of us expected on a Thursday afternoon where children should come safely from school and be collected by their parents.

“I pray the injured make a full recovery. The community stunned and horrified.”

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