Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that protestors who attacked police and looted shops ‘brought shame on Dublin’ following a gruesome knife attack on five people including three young children that shook the entire nation. “Those involved brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves,” Varadkar told reporters. Meanwhile, the Irish police have said that it has arrested 34 people linked with the riots and said that more protests could follow.
Police guarded looted stores and firefighters cooled down smoldering vehicles in the heart of Dublin’s city centre early on Friday after hours of riots which Police Commissioner Drew Harris said he expected to lead to many more arrests.
Security personnel have blamed far-right agitators for starting the riots after a small group of anti-immigrant protesters arrived at the scene of the stabbing beside the main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street and clashed with police.
Harris said, “We have not seen a public order situation like this before.”
“I think that we’ve seen an element of radicalisation. We have seen a group of people who take literally a thimble full 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 added.
One of the victims of the attack, a five-year-old girl, is currently undergoing emergency treatment after sustaining serious injuries in the stabbing.
The police commissioner said that the girl continues to remain in very serious condition with a female teacher in her 30s.
The two other children, a five-year-old boy and six-year-old girl, suffered less serious injuries.
The detained man in his late 40s, also being treated for serious injuries, was detained by police who said they were not looking for any other suspect.
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More ShortsWith inputs from Reuters