Riots Erupt After Children Stabbed in Dublin

Violent clashes broke out in central Dublin on Thursday evening, with vehicles torched and riot police attacked, after a 5-year-old girl was seriously injured in a knife attack earlier in the day that also saw a woman and two other young children hospitalized. Irish police said the girl was receiving emergency medical treatment in a Dublin hospital following the attack outside a school. Soon after that announcement, at least 100 people took to the streets, some armed with metal bars and covering their faces, the AP reports. Police said over 400 officers including many in riot gear, were deployed in Dublin city center to contain the unrest, which they said was "caused by a small group of thugs."

There were clashes with police as rioters let off flares and fireworks, while others grabbed chairs and stools outside bars and restaurants. A number of police vehicles and a tram were damaged during the disorder, while a bus and car were set on fire on the city's O'Connell Bridge. Many windows were smashed and stores, including a Foot Locker, were looted. All public transport in the city—trams and buses—was suspended and many firms urged their staff to work from home on Friday. "We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence," said Ireland's top police officer, Drew Harris.

Police and politicians called for calm and warned against misinformation over the attack earlier in the day. "The scenes we are witnessing this evening in our city center cannot and will not be tolerated," said Justice Minister Helen McEntee. "A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc." Police sources tell the Irish Times that the unrest began with a small group of anti-immigration protesters but large numbers of teenagers joined what became "widespread recreational rioting."

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Police said a man in his 50s, who also was seriously injured, is a "person of interest" in their investigation of the stabbing and no other suspects are being sought. No other details about his identity were revealed, but sources tell the Times that the man is a naturalized Irish citizen who has been in the country for around 20 years. (More Dublin stories.)