Heavy garda presence remains in Dublin city centre after Thursday's riots

Kenneth Fox

There is a heavy garda presence in Dublin city on Saturday as the clean-up continues following Thursday's riots.

Government ministers held a briefing on Friday night on the knife attack outside a school in Parnell Square that led to the unrest and violence that followed.

Thirty-two people have already appeared before the courts and further arrests are expected to follow as gardaí examine tips and trawl through 6,000 hours of CCTV footage.

A five-year-old girl remains in critical condition and her carer is also seriously injured in hospital after Thursday's knife attack in the city.

A six-year-old girl is also being treated in hospital, while a five-year-old boy has been discharged.

The suspect in the attack is in hospital - under guard, after a series of threats against him.

Overnight, the city was calm, apart from a number of arrests for sporadic public order offences.

There were a small number of arrests as gardaí mounted a significant security operation around the O’Connell Street thoroughfare to avoid a repeat of the violent scenes from the night before.

Amid criticism of the Garda response to the riots, Government ministers met and heard that legislation to facilitate the use of body-worn cameras by police officers will be fast-tracked.

She also insisted that the police force has all the resources necessary to keep people in Dublin safe over the weekend, including securing the use of two water cannons from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Ms McEntee also rejected a call from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald for her and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to resign.