Buses and trams have been set alight in Dublin after riots erupted following a knife attack which left a woman and three young children injured.
Violence escalated after a demonstration began on Thursday afternoon at the scene of the incident.
Demonstrators were seen letting off flares and fireworks as clashes with riot police broke out.
A police cordon remains in place around the Irish parliament building, Leinster House, and officers from the Garda Mounted Support Unit were in nearby Grafton Street.
Violence escalated after a demonstration began on Thursday afternoon at the scene of the incident
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Earlier today, five people, including three children, were rushed to hospital after being attacked in Dublin city centre.
One of the children, a girl, and a woman sustained serious injuries while a man and the two other children sustained less serious injuries.
An Irish police chief has blamed the unrest on a "lunatic, hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology", and the president says the earlier attack is being "abused by groups with an agenda".
Gardai were seen with shields fending off demonstrators attempting to kick and punch them.
Gardai were seen with shields fending off demonstrators attempting to kick and punch them
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Rioters also attacked a Luas tram on O’Connell Street, smashing several of its windows.
A Foot Locker store on the same street was looted as people threw bottles at gardai and others carried metal bars to smash shop windows.
Bins were set on fire in parts of the city centre as demonstrators smashed windows of commercial premises.
Ireland’s justice minister Helen McEntee described the riots in Dublin as “not something we have ever experienced”.
Ireland’s justice minister Helen McEntee described the riots in Dublin as 'not something we have ever experienced'
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A Foot Locker store was looted as people threw bottles at gardai and others carried metal bars to smash shop windows
PA
She said the rioters were in the city to “create division” and added: “they do not care about these children who are in hospital.
“Our focus and our priority should be on making sure that these children are safe, that they make a full recovery.”
Following the knife attack, Irish police said they are following a “definite line of inquiry”.
A Garda spokesperson added that they are not looking for any other person at this time