Protesters clash with police, torch car after three children stabbed outside Dublin school

Ireland’s police commissioner has denounced the actions of hundreds who torched buses and looted shops in Dublin in response to three children being stabbed outside a primary school.

A night of torched vehicles and shop looting sparked in Dublin after a knife attack outside a school was of an “extraordinary” level of violence unseen in decades, police said Friday.

The violence started when a group broke through a police cordon Thursday in the area where three young children and a women who was caring for them were injured in a knife attack.

A worker assess the damage to a fire-damaged Luas tram on O'Connell Street in Dublin.

Groups went on to torch buses and trams and loot shops in one of Dublin’s most famous thoroughfares, O’Connell Street.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told a press conference in the Irish capital on Friday that multiple Irish police officers were injured in a running battle with the group that stormed the crime scene in Dublin on Thursday night.

Police officers near the crime scene from yesterdays stabbing in Dublin. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

He said that one officer received a serious injury, with “numerous other members injured” as missiles were thrown at them.

“What we saw last night was an extraordinary outbreak of violence,” Harris said. “These are scenes that we have not seen in decades.” Harris said “all lines of inquiry” are open to determine the motive for the knife attack.

Harris said 34 people were arrested after “huge destruction” by the “riotous mob” with 13 shops significantly damaged or subjected to looting.

A police cordon was set up around the Irish parliament building, Leinster House, late on Thursday night, amid concerns that the violence could spread.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that protesters who battled police and looted shops were motivated by “hate” and brought “shame on Ireland”.

Workers clear the remains of a burnt out bus from a road as a fire-damaged Luas tram stands in the background. Picture: PAUL FAITH / AFP

“Those involved brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves,” Varadkar told reporters.

For his part, Harris blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” for the disorder.

“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence.” Harris said calm was restored in the city shortly after midnight. Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the scenes of disorder were “intolerable” and that a “thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc”.

Violence that erupted in Dublin after three children were injured in a knife attack was of a level not seen for decades. Photo: PAUL FAITH / AFP

“We will not tolerate a small number using an appalling incident to spread division,” she said.

Some protesters carried signs reading “Irish Lives Matter” and waved Irish flags through a neighbourhood home to a large immigrant community.

One protester told AFP that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum.”

Ireland has been facing a chronic housing crisis, with the government estimating that there is a deficit of hundreds of thousands of homes for the general population.

Widespread dissatisfaction has fed into a backlash against asylum seekers and refugees, and far-right figures have promoted anti-immigration sentiment at rallies and on social media with claims that “Ireland is full”

It comes after a Deliveroo rider is being hailed a hero after confronting a man that went on a stabbing frenzy outside a school in Ireland’s capital.

"What we saw last night was an extraordinary outbreak of violence," Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said. Picture: PAUL FAITH / AFP

Brazilian national Caio Benicio, 43, was making a delivery when he saw a man attacking a girl with a knife in Parnell Square East, north central Dublin at 1.30pm local time.

Instead of calling the police and steering clear of danger Mr Benicio took off his helmet and hit the attacker with it on his head.

“I didn’t even make a decision, it was pure instinct, and it was all over in seconds. He fell to the ground, I didn’t see where the knife went, and other people stepped in,” he told The Journal.

Deliveroo rider Caio Benicio is being hailed a hero for his actions. Picture: @thejournal_ie Twitter

“I have two kids myself, so I had to do something. I did what anyone would do. People were there but they couldn’t step in because he was armed, but I knew I could use my helmet as a weapon.”

The girl, five, suffered serious injuries during the attack.

A five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl sustained less serious wounds and the boy has since been discharged.

Flames rise from the car and a bus, set alight at the junction of Bachelors Walk and the O'Connell Bridge, in Dublin. Picture: AFP

People took to the streets in protest following the stabbings earlier in the day. Picture: AFP

The riots forced a university, hospital and parts of the city’s public transport network to shut down. Picture: AFP

A woman, reportedly a creche worker caring for the children, sustained serious stab injuries to her body after she stepped in to protect the children.

“This all happened in a matter of seconds and after her very brave actions another two children suffered superficial stabbing injuries to their chest and shoulder in what was a frenzied incident,” a source told the Belfast Telegraph.

“She defended those children with all her strength — all that she was doing was trying to protect those little kids and people in what is a very built up area in the city centre saw what was happening when they passed the school.”

Police have since detained a man in his 50s, who also needed treatment for injuries.

Hundreds of people took to the streets after rumours circulated of the attacker’s nationality, some fighting with police and attacking vehicles.

Police in riot gear stood guard on the streets in the Irish capital as crowds taunted them with chants and set off fireworks, forcing a university, hospital and parts of the city’s public transport network to shut down.

Near O’Connell Bridge, over the River Liffey, flames rose from a torched car and bus, while crowds broke into stores and looted goods on one of the city’s main shopping streets.

Protesters sort through looted goods in Dublin. Picture: AFP

Irish Garda riot police forming a cordon around a burning police car, on Parnell Street in Dublin. Picture: AFP

Sky News Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy said there had been a number of police officers injured in the rioting.

“We don’t know how many arrests have ensued from the violence we’ve seen here — some of the worst violence I’ve seen in Dublin for many years,” he said.

Police chief Drew Harris blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” for the disorder and warned against the spread of “misinformation”.

He said a number of police vehicles had been damaged, with video footage showing one car on fire.

Police, the Garda Siochana, said in a statement they were “following a definite line of inquiry” and were “not looking for any other person at this time”.

Superintendent Liam Geraghty ruled out terrorism.

“I’m very strongly satisfied from our inquiries that there is no terror-related activity,” he said, adding: “It would appear to be a stand-alone attack.”

Protests erupt after school stabbing in Dublin, Ireland. Picture: X

Protests erupt after school stabbing in Dublin, Ireland. Picture: X

Irish MMA star Conor McGregor, who has recently taken an anti-immigration stance, said the police chief’s response was “not good enough”.

“There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact,” he wrote on X.

Witness Siobhan Kearney said the scene was “absolutely bedlam” as she initially watched events unfold from the other side of the street.

“Without thinking, I just took across the road to help out,” she told Irish national broadcaster RTE.

“We got another young man, disarmed him (the attacker) with the knife, another man took the knife and put it away for the (police) to find it.”

Kearney added a group of people restrained the suspect on the ground, as some of those injured were taken back inside the school.

Emergency services responding to a major incident on Parnell Square East in Dublin. Picture: UGC / @naoiseomuiri / AFP

Varadkar said he was shocked by the incident.

“The emergency services responded very quickly and were on site within minutes. I thank them for that,” he said in a statement.

“Gardai have detained a suspect and are following a definite line of inquiry.”

Aodhan O Riordain, a politician with the Irish Labour Party, said the incident was “disturbing”.

“Hope injuries are not serious but it will (be) extremely traumatising regardless for all involved,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the Sinn Fein opposition party, said she was “horrified” by what had happened.

“There is shock throughout the community. I have just spoken to the Principal of Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire and relayed my support to the school community,” she said in a statement.

“I want to send my solidarity to the families of those attacked. As a parent, I can only imagine what they are going through right now,” she added, praising the police for their swift response.

– with AFP