Eye-witness describes scene of terror as young girl in critical condition and two other children stabbed near Dublin city centre school

An eye-witness has described a scene of terror after three children were stabbed near a school in Dublin city centre this afternoon.

The attack occurred shortly after 1pm near Parnell Square on the northside of Dublin.

The three children have been taken to hospital, with one girl in serious condition.

The young girl, understood to be aged around 7, is in a critical condition at Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

In total five people have been hospitalised including a man and a woman.

The woman’s condition is serious.

It’s understood a male suspect has been arrested and is being treated for injuries.

Gardaí and emergency services are currently at the scene.

All lanes are currently closed as emergency services deal with a serious incident. Diversions are in place.

An eye-witness told the Irish Independent:

“The kids were out walking. All of a sudden one of them fell to the ground, then another fell to the ground, then another falls to the ground.

“Then this guy started running past.”

The eyewitness said the assailant was armed with a knife and fell to the ground and “a load of people jumped on him”.

They said that people at the scene then formed a cordon around the assailant to stop him from being assaulted.

The witness said: “The police were on the scene pretty quickly. An undercover garda came running up and intervened.

“Then the cordon went up and there were people running up and going underneath it, sprinting up the road.”

Parents waiting to collect their children from school were stood at the top of O’Connell Street.

Some stood, breaking the news to passers-by as they phoned relatives, telling them why they would be late arriving home from the school-run.

Emotional parents pushed buggies through the crowd before being stopped at the cordon, stressed by how little they knew about what had happened.

In a statement, gardai said:

“Five casualties have been taken to various hospitals in the Dublin Region. The casualties include an adult male, an adult female and three young children, the spokesperson said.

“One child, a girl, has sustained serious injuries, the other two children are being treated for less serious injuries. An Garda Síochána is in contact with parents of all three injured children.

“The adult female is being treated for serious injuries and the adult male for less serious injuries.

“An Garda Síochána is following a definite line of inquiry. An Garda Síochána is not looking for any other person at this time,” the spokesperson added.

The scene remains sealed off.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said:

“We are all shocked by the incident which has taken place in Parnell Square. A number of people have been injured, some of them children. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to them and their families.

“I have been in contact with the Minister for Justice who is keeping me updated. The facts in this matter are still emerging. The emergency services responded very quickly and were on site within minutes. I thank them for that. Gardaí have detained a suspect and are following a definite line of inquiry.”

Minister and local Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe said;

“I am aware of an extremely serious incident that has taken place at Parnell Square in my constituency of Dublin Central. My thought and prayers are with the victims of this very serious incident, and their families. Anyone with information is being asked to contact Store Street police station.”

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