Police in Dublin have called for calm after violence broke out following a knife attack on a woman and three young children near a school.
In footage shared online, people can be seen taking to the streets of Dublin, with one clip showing a man placing a burning box inside a garda car.
A Luas tram, a bus and a car were also reportedly set on fire as groups gathered near O’Connell Street. Tram services have since been suspended in the city, with a statement on social media saying: "All Luas services have been suspended due to a non Luas related safety incident at Parnel Street.
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"Apologies for any inconvenience caused."
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has confirmed that a number of Garda vehicles have been damaged.
Violence broke out after three young children and a woman were attacked on Parnell Square East in the north of the city centre this afternoon.
A five-year-old girl is undergoing emergency treatment for her injuries, Irish police have said.
The woman was seriously injured while the two other children, a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, sustained less serious injuries
Gardai said a man who sustained serious injuries is a person of interest in their investigation.
Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee labelled the scenes in the city centre ‘intolerable’, and said a ‘thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc’.
McEntee said: “A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc.
“I have spoken to local TDs from all sides of the Dail and we are of the same view.
“We will not tolerate a small number using an appalling incident to spread division. I would appeal for calm in the city centre as An Garda Siochana carry out their work – attacks on members of An Garda Siochana must be utterly condemned and will be dealt with severely.
“Most importantly, we must remember the real tragedy of today and allow the investigations take their course.”
Harris has warned that ‘misinformation’ about the tragedy is being spread as he condemned the ‘disgraceful scenes’.
He said: “We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence.
“We are drafting in resources to deal with that and that will be dealt with properly. I’ve given full direction to our resources here in respect of making arrests and bringing offenders to justice.
“It’s our responsibility to make sure that we police the streets, and part of that is we ask people to act responsibly and not to listen to the misinformation and rumour that is circulating on social media.
“The facts are being established, but the facts are still not clear on a lot of the rumour and the innuendo is being spread for malevolent purposes.”
He added: “The facts have yet to emerge, and will take time to fully emerge.”
Topics: Ireland
Claire Reid