GARDAÍ ARE trying to establish whether five people were stabbed at a party in the middle of the night as part of a dispute between neighbours.
The incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday morning in Tallaght in the west of the city, leaving five men with stab wounds and another with head injuries.
All six were taken to hospital and were still undergoing treatment there last night.
Garda sources said while some of the injured were badly wounded, their conditions are “not life-threatening”.
Gardaí were alerted at 4.20am yesterday to the incident at a house on Deerpark Avenue. When uniformed Garda members and paramedics arrived, they found five men with stab wounds and another with head injuries.
One source familiar with the case said there was “a lot of blood” and that the knife attack appeared frenzied. Some of the injured had multiple stab wounds.
Of the five stabbed, three are in their late teens, one man is in his 20s and the other is in his 40s. Those injured are believed to be unrelated but all are known to each other.
All five were at a party in the house that began with a barbecue on Saturday afternoon and continued into the early hours of yesterday morning.
Gardaí believe the attack was carried out by a man who was not at the party but called to the house. This man was armed with a kitchen knife and attacked some of the partygoers. A number of people ran from the house as the armed man lashed out with the knife.
The Irish Times understands the suspected attacker, a man in his 30s who lives in the area, was overpowered by some of those at the party and that he sustained head injuries in the course of a fight with these people.
The suspected attacker was taken to St James’s Hospital where he was still undergoing medical treatment last night. The five stabbed people are being treated at Tallaght Hospital.
It is understood the man with head injuries was taken to a different hospital to prevent any conflict between visitors.
A kitchen knife gardaí believed was used by the attacker has been found. The house where the incident occurred was sealed off and underwent a forensic examination throughout yesterday by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
Gardaí have traced a number of people who were in the house at the time of the incident and who witnessed the attack. They have already spoken to some of them.
Those who have been taken to hospital are expected to be interviewed as soon as they are well enough. Gardaí have also been conducting house-to-house inquiries in an effort to establish exactly what took place in the hours before the attack.
Anybody with information is asked to contact Tallaght Garda station on 01-666 6000.
