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By Jennifer Duggan
Violence engulfed central Dublin after three children and a woman were stabbed near a school, prompting rioters to clash with the police and set cars and shops on fire.
“A group of people, thugs and criminals, are using this attack to wreak havoc,” Justice Minister Helen McEntee said. The head of the Irish police, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, blamed the unrest on a “lunatic, hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.”
Police in riot gear were sent to the scene and there was severe disruption to transportation, as protesters fired flares and fireworks at police and threw garbage they had set on fire. Vehicles including a police car, buses and light rail were also set on fire, shops were damaged and at least one city-center department store looted.
The unrest began after a stabbing incident close to a school in the city’s north side.
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A childcare worker in her 30s and a five-year-old girl were seriously injured, with the girl needing emergency surgery. A six-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy were also injured. The suspect was also injured and is being held by police at a city center hospital.
The riots appeared to have been sparked by rumors that the attacker was foreign, though no details about him were immediately available. Public broadcaster RTE showed a bus set alight and graffiti-ed with the word “Out.” The broadcaster reported that protesters had chanted anti-immigration slogans.
RTE also reported that the rioters looted a store on O’Connell Street in the city center and that bottles were being thrown at police while rioters carrying metal bars smashed shop windows.
Calm began to be restored in late evening, local media reported.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that the “nation is shocked” about the stabbing incident, adding that he was “lost for words.”
Ireland’s President Michael Higgins said in a statement that “all of our thoughts are with each of the children and their families affected by today’s horrific attack.”
