Dublin riots in numbers: 34 arrested, one garda seriously injured in night of violence

34 people were arrested and 32 people will appear before the courts today after a night of rioting in Dublin City Centre following the stabbing of five people, including three children on Parnell Square on Thursday.

Following the incidents, groups of people gathered in the city and clashed with gardaí, looted shops and set fire to a number of vehicles, including Garda cars, buses and a Luas tram.

Gardaí responded to the scene with over 400 personnel, including 250 public order officers, to deal with the disturbances. Riots raged for a number of hours and one garda was seriously injured in the unrest before it was brought under control.

In a state a Garda spokesperson said: "Over 400 members of An Garda Síochána, were deployed on patrol in Dublin City Centre, including frontline uniformed Gardaí, supported by over 250 Public Order Gardaí.

"As a result of serious public disorder in Dublin city centre yesterday evening, An Garda Síochána can confirm the following:

"Seven vehicles were damaged by fire including three buses, three Garda patrol cars and one Luas tram.

"Eight other Garda vehicles were extensively damaged .

"13 properties were attacked and substantially damaged.

"A number of members of An Garda Síochána were injured; one seriously injured member, who is currently receiving treatment in hospital."

As a result, gardaí say 34 people were arrested, primarily for Public Order and Theft offences.
 
"32 people have been charged and will appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice this morning, Friday, November 24 at 10.30am," they added.

An Garda Síochána say it has commenced a formal investigation into all of the circumstances of the Violent Disorder and Public Order events that occurred on Thursday.

"An incident room has been established at Store Street Garda Station and a Senior Investigating Officer has been appointed.

"An Garda Síochána are in the process of collating and harvesting CCTV and social media images from the events yesterday.

"An Garda Síochána appeals to any person with any information on the events last night or has any information on persons organising or involved in yesterday’s events to contact the Garda investigation team.

"The Garda investigation team can be contacted at Store Street Garda Station at 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda station."