A man in his 20s is recovering in hospital following a serious assault at Newbridge train station in Co Kildare yesterday.
The man was stabbed in what gardaí are describing as a hate crime.
He was attacked at about 6.40pm yesterday evening while waiting for a train with his boyfriend at the station.
He was taken to Tallaght University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A forensic examination of the scene has been carried out.
No arrests have been made and gardaí say that investigations are ongoing.
Paula Fagan from LGBT Ireland said that attacks on the community are on the rise.
She said: "We run the national LGBT helpline and I was looking over statistics: in 2017/2018 we would always get some calls but it has absolutely soared."
She added: "We were looking at something like 11 instances for 2018, this year it's up on 40."
Ms Fagan went on to say in a statement that candidates running in the upcoming General Election need to make hate crime legislation a "top priority" if they are elected.
She said: "This brutal attack last evening should signal to politicians that urgent action is needed to send out a clear message that Hate Crimes will not be tolerated in this country.”
