FRENZIED ATTACK | 

Creche worker stabbed in horror Dublin attack hailed as hero as girl (5) clings to life

This little child is currently in a critical condition in hospital and is clinging to life.

Today at 21:24

An education worker aged in her 30s has been hailed as a hero tonight after she intervened when a man randomly attempted to stab children who were in her care.

This heroic woman is being treated tonight for serious stab injuries to her body that she suffered when she tackled the knifeman this afternoon.

It is understood that before she could intervene with the attacker he had stabbed a five-year-old girl in the neck.

This little child is currently in a critical condition in hospital and is clinging to life.

“This all happened in a matter of seconds and after her very brave actions another two children suffered superficial stabbing injuries to their chest and shoulder in what was a frenzied incident,” a senior source said.

“She defended those children with all her strength – all that she was doing was trying to protect those little kids and people in what was is a very built up area in the city centre saw what was happening when they passed the school.

“At this stage a number of very brave members of the public including pedestrians and cyclists arrived on the scene and the suspect was taken down after he was hit with a motorcycle helmet in the face,” the source added.

The suspect was arrested at the scene and is being treated tonight in a Dublin hospital after he suffered facial injuries when members of the public became involved.

The children he had targeted were lined up under supervision outside the school as they went from one class to another.

Gardai have ruled out a terrorism motive in relation to the activities of the Algerian national who had been living at various addresses in Dublin over the past number of years.

Early investigations indicate that he has no link to the school.

One line in the investigation is that the suspect may have suffered a psychotic episode and there has been reports he was seen near the highly respected school in the minutes before the horrific attack at lunchtime today.

Gardai are not looking for any other suspects in relation to the horror attack.

Meanwhile, violence has erupted across the city centre tonight as protestors clashed with gardai after three children were stabbed outside a school.

Protestors – mostly young men – posted videos on social media showing them attacking gardai and damaging property.

In one clip, a young man could be seen setting fire to a garda car to cheers from the crowd.

A separate video showed protestors throwing items at gardai who carried sheilds to ward them off.

A Dublin Bus has been also been set ablaze on O’Connell Street.

A Foot Locker shop has been broken into and people have been seen running away with items.

A separate video shows a Luas tram badly damaged and on fire while a group of people look on.

Earlier this evening, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee labelled the scenes “intolerable”, and said a “thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc”.

“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 Síochána carry out their work – attacks on members of An Garda Síochána must be utterly condemned and will be dealt with severely,” the minister said.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris also said a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” is behind disorder in the capital.

“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.”