LAST UPDATE | 20 Aug 2023

GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING an assault on Grafton Street this morning and have arrested a man aged in his 30s.

The incident is understood to have been a stabbing.

The man was taken to a Garda Station in Dublin City Centre where he is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

A man aged in his 30s was taken to St James Hospital to be treated for serious injuries.

Investigations are ongoing into the incident.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said she “strongly condemns this assault and believes such violence has no place in our society”.

She urges anyone with information to contact An Garda Síochána to help ensure those responsible are punished and face the consequences of their actions.

In a statement after the incident, the minister said she is committed to ensuring Dubliners working and living in our capital, and those who visit the city, are safe and feel safe.

“The minister is in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner  on policing in Dublin, including how her recent allocation of an additional €10 million in overtime for An Garda Siochana is being used, and will be used, to provide consistent high visibility policing on the streets of the capital.

“The overtime will provide for 240,000 extra Garda hours, or 20,000 extra Garda shifts in the city to the end of the year.

“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,” said the statement. 

It went on to state that while the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for all 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.

Increasing the number of gardaí graduating from Templemore after a Covid enforced pause remains a priority, said the statement, which highlighted that numbers in Templemore continue to increase, with attestations every 3 months – 135 trainees entered the training college in February and another 154 in May.

Another class of 174, the largest class since Covid, entered the college at the end of July, continuing the building momentum in recruitment.

The minister said that if momentum continues, between 700 and 800 new recruits will have been through the college in 2023. However, this falls short of the 1,000 recruit target. 

McEntee said she is also introducing tough new laws to ensure that communities have a real say in making their areas safer.

These include the recent enactment of legislation to:

• Increase the sentence for assault causing harm from five years to ten years
• Increase the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life
• Increase the maximum sentence for assaulting a Garda from seven years to 12 years.

In addition, the minister highlighted that Dublin’s North Inner City is one of three pilot locations for the new Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs), which set to build upon and replace the existing Joint Policing Committees.

“No one knows better than those who live in the community what is needed,” she said. 

Additional reporting by Christina Finn