People with a particular agenda quickly began to spread misinformation and disinformation online after news broke of an on-duty garda being stabbed on Tuesday evening, the Assistant Garda Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region has said.
The Garda was on a high-visibility patrol with a colleague on Capel Street in Dublin 1 when he was attacked and stabbed multiple times just after 6pm. Gardaí say the attack was entirely unprovoked.
A man in his 20s was subsequently arrested at the scene. He is currently being detained at a Garda station in the Dublin region under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
The injured Garda is now recovering in hospital, where his condition is described as non-life-threatening.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary said “very inaccurate reports” began circulating online in the wake of the attack, and he urged the public to get their news only from credible sources.
“Unfortunately we see it every day and we have some people with their own agenda trying to use incidents like this to inflame situations for their own ends,” he said.
“We would always say to people to make sure that they get their information from credible media sources. Very inaccurate misinformation and disinformation went out online after this incident very quickly.
“So it is concerning and we would ask people to make sure that the source of their information is credible,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
Mr Cleary commended both Gardaí involved in the incident for their courage and professionalism “in the face of such an unprovoked attack.”
“The garda did receive a wound to his upper right arm in the tricep area. His official issue stab vest sustained some stab impact damage. So that’s a good job.”
He confirmed he had appointed a senior investigating officer and said that, beyond gathering evidence to bring the offender to justice, the force wants to understand “the motivation behind the attack and any learnings we can take from the investigation.”
“I’ll ensure that we consider those learnings in our future planning and policing operations.”
Assistant Garda Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region Paul Cleary. File Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews
Mr Cleary stated that assaults on members of the force would never be tolerated. He added that welfare supports are available to members at any time and that he had heard concerns expressed by representative bodies.
On broader policing in the capital, he noted that a new high-visibility strategy involving 174 new Gardaí had been introduced in recent months to “provide reassurance to the communities in the cities and the business communities and people visiting and socialising in the city”.
“So we have received positive feedback for this initiative,” he added.
“It’s a permanent high-visibility strategy and we will be adding to it and we’ll be expanding it. We have more guards coming out from Templemore in August and as the year goes on we’ll expand it and including out to the suburbs.”
‘Increased violence’ against gardaí must be addressed — GRA
Speaking earlier on the same programme, Niall Hodgins, vice-president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), said the unprovoked attack on Capel Street highlighted the need for garda pay and conditions to reflect the “dangers and uniqueness” of the job.
Mr Hodgins extended his best wishes to the injured garda and wished him a speedy recovery. He added that the attack serves as a stark reminder of the dangers gardaí face daily.
“This is not just Dublin North Central. This could be any village across the country because, unfortunately, the precedence of attacks on our members is occurring on a daily basis,” he said.
“There’s an increased amount of violence being perpetrated against our members daily.”
Mr Hodgins said this issue must be addressed “by all facets of the State,” including the judiciary and Government, through appropriate legislation and penalties.
“There’s a myriad of issues and remember these attacks lessen the morale yet again when we don’t see that our members are getting support,” he added.
“What I’d also say there now, this attack is a reminder that the pay and conditions have to reflect the dangers and the uniqueness of the guards, of being a member of the force.”