A five-year-old girl is “still in a very serious condition” in hospital this morning after yesterday’s attack outside a school on Dublin’s Parnell Square.
The Garda Commissioner Drew Harris revealed this morning that the girl is in critical condition and her teacher, a woman in her 30s, is also in a serious condition in hospital.
Two other children were also injured in the stabbing attack near Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East yesterday afternoon.
A six-year-old girl is being treated for less serious injuries, while a five-year-old boy was discharged from CHI Crumlin yesterday evening.
It is understood a man attacked the woman and children near the school before being apprehended by members of the public.
Gardaí say a man aged in his 50s is being treated for serious injuries at a hospital in Dublin.
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Dublin Castle following the riots in the city last night, 24-11-2023. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNewsSpeaking in Dublin Castle this afternoon, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar the girl and woman are both in critical condition.
"The five-year-old girl who was stabbed in the chest and also the care assistant who used her body as a shield to prevent other children from being injured, they are both in critical condition," he said.
“The person who carried out this attack was intent on murder. That is clear.”
Gardaí and emergency services at the scene of a serious incident on Parnell Square East in Dublin, 23/11/2023. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNewsInvestigators were following a definite line of inquiry and are not looking for any other person in connection with the attack.
Speaking at Garda Headquarters this morning, Commissioner Harris said the motive for the attack remains unclear.
“I’m not going to comment in respect of the motive because that is still not clear,” he said.
“The investigation is obviously focused on what the motive for this incident was in the first place.
“That is not yet clear so I’ll not engage in speculation is respect of that.”
Gardaí at the scene where a teacher and three children were injured in a stabbing attack, 23-11-2023. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNewsYesterday, an eyewitness described the 'complete and utter pandemonium' on Parnell Square in the moments after the attack.
In the hours after the attack, protesters gathered near the scene of the crime became violent with riots engulfing the city centre for a number of hours.
Cars and two double-decker buses were set on fire, with a Luas tram also set ablaze.
Meanwhile, looters destroyed shopfronts and broke into Footlocker, JD Sports and Arnotts.
Commissioner Harris last night blamed a “complete, lunatic hooligan faction driven by a far-right ideology” for the violence in the city.
Today he said: “We have seen a group of people who take literally a thimbleful of facts and make a bathtub of hateful assumptions and then conduct themselves in a way which is riotous and disruptive to our society.”
He encouraged people to come into the city this morning – noting that there will be a very heavy Garda presence throughout the city centre today.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris prepares to speak at Garda HQ in the Phoenix Park, 23-11-2023. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNewsThe scene at Parnell Square East remains sealed off this morning.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone with any information on the attack to contact them.
They are particularly interested in talking to anyone who may have video footage of the attack or the immediate aftermath of the attack.
