Four stabbed as knife attacks rise

There has been a "notable increase in knife-related assaults" in the past 24 months, gardaí admitted over the weekend.

The comment comes as four more stabbing investigations get under way following assaults in Dublin and Cork.

Yesterday in Dublin, a 20-year-old man was stabbed several times in what gardaí are describing as a "serious incident". The man was assaulted at a house in Mount Olive Grove, Kilbarrack at about 4.20am.

He received a number of wounds and was transferred to Beaumont Hospital where his condition was described as "critical but stable".

A 23-year-old man was also taken to hospital where he received treatment for a head wound.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, also in Dublin, a 42-year-old man was attacked by two other men. In the incident, which occurred just before 2am, the men demanded his money and stabbed him in the stomach before taking his wallet.

The man was taken to the Mater hospital where his condition was yesterday described as "stable".

His attackers, who escaped in the direction of Lower Drumcondra Road, are described as aged in their early 20s, about 5'6" to 5'7", with pronounced eastern European accents.

In Cork, two men remain in hospital following separate stabbing incidents in the city over the weekend.

A 25-year-old is in a stable condition at Cork University Hospital after he was assaulted outside a bar on the northside of the city on Saturday morning.

The incident occurred outside Murphy's Bar in Ballyvolane at around 2am.

Meanwhile, a man in his early twenties is also being treated for injuries he received in the St John's Well area of Blackpool, also on the northside of the city, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The man was stabbed after he was approached by a group of youths between 3.10am and 3.40am.

It is believed the incident is linked to an ongoing dispute between two groups of young men in the city.

Fine Gael's spokesman on Justice Jim O'Keefe said the increasing incidence of stabbings was "further indication" that Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was "whistling past the graveyard as more and more Irish people fall victim to crime".

"There is an increasing viciousness at the casual end of crime. We are now seeing reports of extreme, vicious violence on a weekly if not a daily basis. There is increasing use of alcohol, drugs and then that is reflecting itself in the knee-jerk response of people to grievances or perceived grievances. "

A Garda spokesman said such assaults were recorded along with other assaults and it was therefore difficult to ascertain precise numbers from data gathered so far this year.