A five-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s have been seriously injured and three other people hurt in a knife attack in Dublin city centre.

The Incident happened outside a school shortly after 13:40 local time on Parnell Square East.

The street is close to O’Connell Street, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

Two other children and a man in his 50s were also injured – the man is a person of interest, Irish police said.

He is being treated for serious injuries. The police said they were not looking for any other people at this time and are following a definite line of inquiry.

In a press conferences, Supt Liam Geraghty said that the girl is receiving emergency care in hospital, while another girl, aged six, and a five-year-old boy were less seriously hurt.

He added that although It is early in the investigation, gardaí are confident that there is “no terror-related activity” and that it would appear to be a “standalone attack”.

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar said police had detained a suspect and that he had been left “shocked” by the incident.

“I have been in contact with the minister for justice who is keeping me updated. The facts in this matter are still emerging,” he added.

‘Absolute bedlam’

An eyewitness told RTÉ how she and another bystander disarmed a man with a knife.

Siobhan Kearney described the scene as “absolutely bedlam”.

“Without thinking, I just took across the road to help out,” she said.

“Two children and the woman were taken back into the school where they were coming from.”

On the man with the knife, she said that he was on the ground and there were a lot of people trying to restrain him.

“Me and an American lady formed a ring around him saying we’d wait on the garda (police).”

She said that the ambulance came first within three or four minutes and all the emergency services were there in five minutes.

The area has been sealed off and declared a crime scene.

In a statement, the Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she was “deeply shocked by the appalling attack”.

She added that her thoughts are with those injured, especially with the children, their parents and families, during “this extremely difficult period”.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader and Dublin Central TD Mary Lou McDonald said the incident had sent “shock and horror throughout the community”.

“My heart goes out to all the hurt and injured, the parents, teachers but especially the children who have been so traumatised”, she added. (BBC: Text, Excluding Headline)

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