A five-year-old girl is receiving emergency medical treatment following a serious assault in Dublin city centre, gardaí have said.
Superintendent Liam Geraghty said: “An Garda Síochána continue to investigate all of the circumstances of a serious assault which occurred on Parnell Square East shortly after 1.30pm this afternoon.
“Preliminary indications are that a male attacked a number of people on Parnell Square East.
“Five casualties have been taken to hospitals in the Dublin region.
“These casualties include three young children, an adult female and an adult male.
“One girl, aged five years, has sustained serious injuries and is currently receiving emergency medical treatment in CHI Temple Street.”
Superintendent Liam Geraghty said a five-year-old boy and six-year-old girl were treated for less serious injuries after the incident in Dublin.
He said: “The boy has since been discharged from CHI Crumlin.
“An Garda Síochána is providing support to the parents of all the children.
“The adult female in her 30s is being treated for serious injuries at the Mater Hospital.
“An adult male in his 50s is also being treated for serious injuries at a hospital in the Dublin region.
“The scene remains sealed off at this time and a technical examination of the scene is ongoing.
“An incident room has been established at Mountjoy Garda Station and a senior investigating officer has been appointed.
“An Garda Siochana is following a definite line of inquiry.
“The male in his 50s is a person of interest to An Garda Síochána in this investigation and An Garda Síochána is not looking for any other person at this time.”
Superintendent Geraghty said the parents of the children involved in the Dublin incident were aware of the incident very quickly.
“We are dealing, not just with the parents of the three children, but parents of the wider group that would have seen and potentially be traumatised as a result of what happened this afternoon,” the garda officer said.
“My understanding is that the first emergency services were ambulances, and they were there within minutes, followed by An Garda Síochána.
“My understanding is members of the public did intervene at a very, very early stage and we would applaud those members of the public for getting involved in such a traumatic and potentially dangerous situation for themselves.
“We’re aware that the public are concerned about the activities that have happened today. The message to them is that we believe that this is a standalone incident, not necessarily connected to any wider issues that are ongoing in the country or in the city, and we need to identify the exact reasons for that happening.
“So we’d ask for people not to jump to conclusions and not to make rash judgements on what may have happened.”
