'A deep shock': Man arrested after three siblings killed in violent incident in Dublin
Gardaí were informed of a violent incident occurring at a house in the Rossfield Estate at around 12.30am today. Pictures: Norma Burke/RollingNews.ie
A man has been arrested after three children died in a stabbing incident in the Tallaght area of Dublin during the early hours of the morning.
Gardaí were informed of a violent incident occurring at a house in Rossfield Estate at around 12.30am on Sunday.
Three siblings, a twin boy and girl aged 8 and a teenage girl aged 18, were removed from the area by ambulance to Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin where all three were pronounced dead.
A teenage boy, aged 14, was also injured in the incident and is continuing to receive treatment at Tallaght Hospital. His injuries are not life-threatening.
A man in his 20s was arrested at the scene following an intervention by the Garda Armed Support Unit, involving the "discharge of less than-lethal devices".
He is currently being detained at Tallaght Garda Station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
The mother of the children, who was not injured at the scene, was also taken to CHI and is currently receiving medical treatment.
All persons involved in the incident are believed to be known to each other and gardaí are not looking for anyone else at this time.
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said: “The killing of three young family members is a tragedy, so awful and heart-breaking. It is difficult to comprehend.
“My thoughts are with the family and the local community as they deal with this unimaginable crime.
“Gardaí and other services are supporting them at this difficult time.”
Fianna Fail TD for Dublin South West, John Lahart, says words are totally inadequate.
"As a public representative for the area you'd just be thinking of the families and neighbours," he said.
"Reports suggest that gardaí were met with what has been described as a very challenging and traumatic event and a violent event.
"I'm sure more details will emerge and we'll leave that to the gardaí."
Fianna Fáil councillor Charlie O’Connor, who was at the scene on Sunday morning, said there is widespread shock in the community.
“I don’t know how to describe it. I was getting calls from early morning with people bringing it to my attention,” Mr O’Connor said.
“People are only now beginning to come out of their house. I was at the Catholic Church a while ago and a lot people hadn’t heard, but the news was getting through.
“There is deep shock, people are really, really upset, any event like this would cause shock but the fact that it involves children.
“It’s a really shocking event for this community, and indeed for the wider Tallaght community and elsewhere. This will affect many, many people.
“I was talking to the gardaí and they told me that their colleagues who were on last night were all deeply shocked.
“It is terrible. We have to think of the family, think of their neighbours, think of the wider community.
“Attempts are being made to support the local community and the local Brookfield Youth and Community Centre has just confirmed to me that they’re opening up now for the rest of the day.
“People are welcome to come and grieve and have a cup of tea and talk about their grief.
“I really find it shocking to think three children of that age are no longer with us and won’t be going to school in the morning.”
Dermot Richardson, Sinn Féin councillor for the Tallaght area, called for welfare support to be put in place for the family, local community and schoolchildren.
He also called for people to stop sharing video footage of the incident on WhatsApp and social media sites.
“There are videos being shared on WhatsApp. I would ask people not to share it out of respect for the family and the local community as well,” he added.
“If you have footage, please pass on to the gardaí.”
There is a large gardaí presence in the area while a full forensic examination of the scene is under way.
The upstairs windows of the property were open and smashed while blood stains could be seen on the window frames.
A smashed downstairs window also remained open while forensic officers examined the front garden.
A black car outside the property was also a focal point of the investigation.
The streets surrounding the property remained busy with children playing nearby.
Gardaí in Tallaght have established an incident room and all the circumstances are being investigated under the direction of a senior investigating officer.
The scene at Rossfield Estate remains sealed off and a full forensic examination will take place later today by the Garda Technical Bureau.
The Coroner’s Office and the Office of the State Pathologist have been informed. Postmortems will be carried out at a later date.
A family liaison officer has been appointed and gardaí will continue to support the family in conjunction with other state agencies.
Officers described it as a violent, challenging and traumatic incident which was responded to by uniform unarmed Garda first responders from Tallaght District, supported by uniform members and armed detectives and specialist armed support unit members.
Gardaí have put in place welfare support for all officers who attended the incident.
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