A local councillor in Co Wexford has spoken of the devastation in New Ross at the news of the death of an eight-year-old girl in a fatal assault.
Malikika Al Katib was taken to University Hospital Waterford but died from her injuries in the early hours of Monday.
A woman and a man, both in their 30s, are also receiving treatment at University Hospital Wexford.
Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, according to gardaí.
The girl’s mother is believed to be from Wexford while her husband moved to Ireland from abroad some years ago.
Malikika is believed to have sustained more than one wound though precisely how she was fatally injured remained under investigation.
New Ross Educate Together National School has confirmed Malikika was one of its pupils, with principal Therese White saying the school had put in place measures to support students and staff.
New Ross local area representative, Cllr John Dwyer, said people in the town were "left numb" with the news.
“We're left numb at the news that started to emerge in the early hours of yesterday morning. It would be an understatement to say that. New Ross is a relatively small town, most people know one another in the town,” he told Newstalk radio.
“Word started to filter through. I got a call very early yesterday morning from my daughter, who's a mother herself, asking me had I heard and was aware of the circumstances.
“And from that point forward, the phone never stopped ringing until I got a very distressing phone call from a young woman who was closely related to the child. And I will never forget that phone call.”
“That person was desperately, desperately upset. It was one of the most horrific phone calls I’ve ever had in my life. It took me some time to make sense because I wouldn't have made the connection between this woman and the child. But it took time to make sense of that phone call.
“But when it did, the realisation hit me that many, many people in New Ross will have known this child and would have known the mother, who is from the locality.
“You know, there are no words that could adequately describe how people are feeling. There's a real sense of shock. New Ross is a relatively small place. Things like this don't happen in towns like ours. But unfortunately, yesterday the nightmare began for us and for that poor family.”
Cllr Dwyer welcomed the critical incident plan put in place at the local Educate Together school which was attended by the victim. At one stage a grandson of Cllr Dwyer had sat beside the girl in school.
“I can’t imagine how all those young children must be feeling and how their parents are attempting to deal with having to explain the horrific circumstances of how that poor child died.”
