A knife assault in Ireland’s capital city of Dublin earlier on Thursday injured three children and two adults resulting in violent altercations between police and demonstrators later in the day, in the city’s downtown area.

According to The Irish Times, the Gardai — the Irish police force — claimed a “complete hooligan lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” was behind violent protests in Dublin during which rioters let off flares and fireworks at police.

The riots went on while a five-year-old schoolgirl and a thirty-something woman who was identified as a “member of staff caring for her” were being treated for serious injuries in a hospital.

Crowds in the city centre were held back by police using riot shields while a police car was set on fire in retaliation for the stabbings that occurred in Parnell Square East.

Buses and a Luas tram on O’Connell Bridge were also set ablaze while people looted and smashed stores with metal bars, and rioters tried to punch and kick police.

To contain the chaos, a Garda public order team was also sent in.

Police have identified a suspect in connection with the stabbings, and while they do not consider the crime to be related to terrorism, they have also stated that they are not “ruling out any motive.”

Superintendent (SI) Liam Geraghty informed the media earlier in a press conference that the spate of stabbings seemed like a “standalone attack”.

According to SI Geraghty, three patients received medical treatment for less serious injuries: a man in his 50s, a girl aged six, and a boy aged five. After a while, the boy was released from the Children’s Health Ireland facility at Crumlin Hospital.

Following the rioting, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told journalists outside Mountjoy Garda Station: “I think there’s disgraceful scenes in terms of a major investigation, the maintenance of a scene and the gathering of evidence.

“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence.

“We are drafting in resources to deal with that and that will be dealt with properly. I’ve given full direction to our resources here in respect of making arrests and bringing offenders to justice.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure that we police the streets, and part of that is we ask people to act responsibly and not to listen to the misinformation and rumour that is circulating on social media.

“The facts are being established, but the facts are still not clear on a lot of the rumour and the innuendo is being spread for malevolent purposes.”

Harris has also confirmed that a total of 34 arrests for public order offences so far overnight and said that 32 of those arrested will appear before the courts on Friday morning.