Senior gardaí are to meet with Dublin business owners and Dublin City Council over fears about street violence in the capital, following the latest attack in the city centre in which a man was stabbed several times on Grafton Street on Sunday morning.
The victim was taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment while a suspect was arrested by gardaí from Pearse Street station.
The Irish Times understands the attacker and victim were not known to each other and that both had been out socialising into the early hours of Sunday morning. The attack occurred on the northern end of Grafton St, close to the junction of Wicklow Street, and was witnessed by a number of people who were in the area at the time.
Some people on the scene alerted gardaí and also went to the victim’s aid, which others monitored the suspect as he moved off and helped direct gardaí towards him.
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It appears the injured man, who is in his 30s and is from south Dublin, initially did not realise he had been wounded and continued on his way down the street. However, witnesses saw him bleeding and went to his aid, informing him he had suffered wounds in the attack.
Gardaí who rushed into the area arrested the suspect close to the Luas stop on St Stephen’s Green, off the southern end of Grafton St. A knife was also seized there and gardaí believe the victim’s blood was on the weapon.
However, results of forensic testing were awaited before the weapon could be linked, with certainty, to both the attacker and the stabbing. While the suspect remained in Garda custody on Sunday, his questioning had been suspended for a period of six hours on medical advice, which occurs if suspects are deemed unfit, or too impaired, to answer questions.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she “strongly condemns this assault”, adding that such violence has “no place in our society”.
Ms McEntee, who has come under increasing political pressure to tackle the issue following a spate of high-profile attacks over the summer, said she is “committed to ensuring Dubliners working and living in our capital, and those who visit the city, are safe and feel safe”.
Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan, who is TD for the Dublin Bay South constituency where Grafton Street is located, told The Irish Times that the latest assault “confirms many people’s fear that there are parts of Dublin that are unsafe during certain times of the day”.
He said acts of violence and open drug dealing are have become “far too visible” in the city centre, and that while there are complex reasons for this, “part of the solution must be to increase Garda visibility in the city centre during the day and night. We need more gardaí and government should be introducing innovative measures to recruit more persons into the force.”
Ms McEntee’s spokesman said that while the Garda is responsible for operational policing matters, “the Minister and the Department of Justice remain committed to making sure gardaí have the necessary resources to build stronger, safer communities.
“The Minister is also informed that senior gardaí will this week hold a meeting with Dublin business groups, business owners and Dublin City Council on safety in Dublin, where they will discuss their approach and listen to concerns and issues.”
The Garda said investigations into the Grafton Street incident were ongoing.
“Upon receiving report of this incident Gardaí attended the scene and arrested a man aged in his 30s.
“He was taken to a Garda Station in Dublin city centre where he is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. Another man aged in his 30s was taken to St James’s Hospital to be treated for serious injuries,” the Garda said in a statement.
Ms McEntee has made available a top-up budget of €10 million for Garda overtime in Dublin to the end of 2023 but Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal Louise O’Reilly said the Minister’s party had not invested enough in law and order.
“Everyone should be entitled to be safe in our nation’s capital, be they Dubliners, workers or tourists. However it’s clear that there are serious issues with crime in the city that must be tackled by government.
“During their time in office, Fine Gael have failed to invest in, adequately fund and show leadership for the gardaí. As a result, there aren’t enough guards on our streets, they don’t have the resources they need and they feel overstretched and under-supported. It isn’t good enough,” Ms O’Reilly said.
“Sinn Féin have outlined our proposals to keep communities safe by putting guards back on our streets with the resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively. Minister McEntee must act and implement our proposals urgently, to finally get to grips with the issue of crime in Dublin.”
