Three young children and a woman were injured on Thursday in Dublin’s city centre in what Irish police have termed “a serious public order incident”.

A man also suffered injuries during the violence, which took place outside a school shortly after 1:30pm (local time).

Citing witnesses at the scene, Irish media said some of the casualties were hospitalised with suspected stab wounds.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar expressed his shock and said a suspect had been detained. The police said one of the children, a girl, and a woman had sustained serious injuries. A man and the two other children sustained less serious injuries.

They added that they were “following a definite line of inquiry” and weren’t looking for anyone else in connection with the violence.

Irish justice minister Helen McEntee said she was “deeply shocked” by the
“appalling attack on three innocent children and a woman.”

Local media reported that the people were stabbed on Dublin’s Parnell Square, which is next to Dublin city’s main thoroughfare of O’Connell Street.

The police said the scene remains sealed off.

The Irish Times reported that the chief suspect had been detained and had sustained wounds believed to be self-inflicted.

It said early indications suggested a man tried to attack a number of young people and that passers-by intervened.

The motive for the attack, which occurred close to a school on the street, has not been established, the Irish Times added.