A fourth man has been arrested in connection with a series of stabbings in Co Mayo over the weekend.
The man was arrested in Galway city this afternoon.
The arrest follows the earlier arrest of three men, who are being held in custody at Castlebar and Claremorris garda stations, following a series of searches which were carried out in counties Mayo, Sligo and Galway.
Four men were stabbed in two attacks in Ballinrobe over the weekend. The incidents are the latest in a spate of violent assaults within a week in south Mayo.
Ballinrobe has one night club, the Valkenburg, and it is believed that the two stabbing incidents in New Street and on Neale Road between 2am and 3am on Sunday involved people who may have been in the club earlier on.
Supt Pádraig O’Toole, who is heading the investigation by a special unit, said there was no definitive evidence that the two attacks were related, but this was being examined as a possibility.
One of the two assaulted in New Street, a 27-year-old man, sustained serious head injuries and is critically ill in Beaumont Hospital.
A 32-year-old man who was with him has since been discharged from hospital. Both are said to have been set upon by a “number” of men.
The Neale Road assault occurred about 20 minutes later, with a 20-year-old and a 31-year-old man sustaining stab wounds in the neck. They are recovering in hospital in Mayo General Hospital.
Supt Michael Murray, acting chief superintendent for the Mayo Garda division, yesterday said he does not believe there is an “epidemic” in relation to knife-carrying, but appealed to the public to pass on information about people carrying knives to gardaí.