Pics: Cork's first attack simulation takes over city centre nightclub

By Eoin English

Emergency services have staged a major critical incident response training exercise in Cork city this morning.

Several agencies were involved in the response to a simulated multiple knife attack and hostage situation inside a packed nightclub.

The event, staged in Reardens on Washington St following a request from businesses involved in the nighttime industry in the city, was designed to test the response times and various protocols of all the agencies involved, including Gardai, its armed response units and HSE ambulance crews.

Gardai said the learnings from the incident will feed into how the various agencies will respond to similar incidents in future.

They stressed that the incident was not a training exercise in response to a potential terrorist attack but could help inform responses to such possible incidents in the future.

At @Reardenscork for #CorkCitySafe17 critical incident response training exercise - an attack inside a nightclub. First exercise of its kind in #Cork pic.twitter.com/3NsWVTriGg

— Eoin English (@EoinBearla) November 29, 2017