Dublin, Nov 25: Three young children were among five people injured in a knife attack in Dublin on Thursday that sparked riots in the city centre and which police have not yet ruled out any motive over, including whether it could be terror-related.Public transport was suspended and patients advised not to travel to a nearby maternity hospital unless absolutely necessary after clashes between riot police and anti-immigrant protesters, who arrived at the scene of the attack beside the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street.
A double decker bus was burned to the ground in front of the Daniel O’Connell statue at the head of the street and windows were smashed at a nearby Holiday Inn hotel and McDonalds restaurant. A Footlocker store was looted.
“They are disgraceful scenes. We have a complete lunatic, hooligan faction driven by far right ideology engaged in serious violence,” Police Commissioner Drew Harris told reporters after deploying 400 officers to restore public order.
A police car was also burnt out.
Such rioting is almost unprecedented in Dublin. There are no far right parties or politicians elected to parliament, but small anti-immigrant protests have grown in the last year. The government is reviewing security around parliament after a recent protest trapped lawmakers inside.
Harris said all lines of inquiry related to the attack remained open, contradicting a senior officer who had earlier told reporters that police were satisfied the incident was not terror-related.
“I’m not going to speculate any further in respect of a terrorist motive. Until we’re sure what the motive is, we have to keep an open mind as to why this happened,” he said.
A five-year-old girl was receiving emergency treatment after sustaining serious injuries in the stabbing. A man in his late 40s, also being treated for serious injuries, was arrested by police who said they are not looking for any other suspect.
Police said it appeared the man attacked a number of people on Dublin’s Parnell Square shortly after 1330 GMT. Members of the public intervened at an early stage of the attack.
A woman in her 30s was also being treated for serious injuries while the two other children, a five-year-old boy and six-year-old girl, suffered less serious injuries. The boy has been discharged from hospital.