Witnesses may shed light on fatal Donaghmede stabbing

Gardaí wait to speak to 'person of interest' and member of staff at Tusla emergency home after 17-year-old was violently killed

The remains of the deceased teenager are removed from the apartment in the Grattan Wood complex in Donaghmede, Dublin, on Wednesday afternoon. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

Gardaí investigating a fatal stabbing of a boy at an emergency residential home for juveniles in Dublin are hoping eyewitness to the incident can shed light on what happened.

The deceased is understood to be 17 years old. He suffered very severe injuries and, despite paramedics fighting to save his life, he died at the scene.

Another juvenile, also thought to be 17, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is in hospital.

'Person of interest' 

This individual is being treated as a “person of interest” by gardaí. He is not thought to be from Ukraine.

While officers may try to get a preliminary comment from this youth, they will have to wait until a specialist garda child interviewer is available before taking any formal statements.  

The same will also apply to the two other juveniles living at the emergency home in north Dublin.

Gardaí are also awaiting the results of an autopsy due to be conducted on Thursday, which will provide them with a cause of death.

The remains were removed just after 5.30pm by ambulance.

A garda spokesperson told the Irish Examiner that the force "is not looking for any other person in relation to this incident at this time and is following a definite line of enquiry".

"A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has been appointed to lead the investigation and an incident room has been established at Coolock Garda station," the spokesperson added.

"A Family Liaison Officer (FLO) has also been assigned to provide assistance, where required."

Anyone with any information related to this incident has been asked to contact Coolock Garda Station on 01 666 4200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Kitchen knife used in incident

It is not clear what led to the incident, during which a row escalated, a domestic kitchen knife was obtained and, at some stage, used. The wounds inflicted are understood to be very severe.

The emergency residential home — located in a large apartment at a modern complex at Grattan Wood in Donaghmede — is for separated children seeking international protection.

These are juveniles under the age of 18 who arrive in the country without their parents and claim asylum. They are placed in the care of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

In a statement, Tusla confirmed that the home “provides care on a 24-hour basis to four separated young people” seeking international protection.

It said: “The incident involved two young people, during which a fatal injury was sustained.”

Tusla said it is co-operating with the garda investigation, but added that its immediate priority was “the safety and wellbeing of the other young people and staff”.

A garda statement said they and other emergency services were called to attend a residential premises in the Dublin 13 area shortly after 11am.

“On arrival, a seriously injured male juvenile teenager was discovered at the scene,” it said. “Despite the assistance of paramedics, the male has subsequently been pronounced deceased at the scene.”

It said gardaí and emergency services also assisted a number of other juveniles and adults at the scene. It said a male teenager was taken to a Dublin hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Staff member also injured

In addition, a woman received medical attention at the scene for non-life threatening injuries, and received further medical attention at hospital.

This adult is one of the staff members and is thought to have been injured as she tried to stop the violence. Gardaí are hoping her statement will provide assistance.

The Garda Technical Bureau began its examinations yesterday. Any suspected weapon will be removed for forensic and DNA testing.

The tragic incident comes just a day after Tusla bosses told an Oireachtas committee that the number of separated children seeking asylum has “grown exponentially” in recent years.

Tusla’s interim director of services and integration, Gerry Hone, said they’ve had to “rapidly scale up services” to respond to a 500% increase in referrals.

He said numbers rose to 900 in 2024 and that it had surpassed 1,000 already this year, with the final number expected to be over 1,200 for the year.

Tusla interim service director Lorna Kavanagh told the Oireachtas justice committee that half of the separated children are now from Ukraine, up from a third on previous years, due to an “increase during the summer”.

She said Somalia and Afghanistan were the next most common origin.

Ms Kavanagh said increased funding had enabled them to expand Tusla residential centres to about 400 spaces, the remainder is largely provided by agency staff in rented property.