Gardaí in Cork have begun an investigation after a man was attacked and stabbed in the head in Patrick Street in Cork city centre on Thursday afternoon.
It is understood the man who is in his late 20s was injured when a row broke out with another man outside the Savoy Shopping Centre around 3.30pm.
The man was stabbed in the head and has been taken to hospital for treatment. It is understood that his injury is not believed to be life threatening.
Shocked and horrified onlookers witnessed the attack which seems to have happened quite quickly as the two men were talking just moments before.
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Gardaí hope to be given permission by doctors to speak to the injured man later today as they believe that he knows the identity of his assailant.
Gardaí have also begun studying CCTV footage from the area to try to establish the exact sequence of events leading up to the stabbing.
They have also cordoned off the area for a technical examination by Garda forensic experts in the hope of obtaining DNA and other evidence.
Gardai believe that the culprit - thought to be also in his late 20s - fled the scene by getting into a taxi and they are actively searching for him.
It’s understood there were a large number of people in the area at the time and gardai have appealed to any witnesses to the attack to contact them.
In particular, they are anxious to anyone who may have filmed the incident on their smartphones to contact them at Anglesea Street Garda station on 021-4522000
And they have also appealed to any motorists or taxi drivers with dash cam footage who may have caught the incident to contact them at Anglesea Street
Meanwhile Cork North Central Sinn Fein TD, Thomas Gould said the incident highlighted the need for extra Garda resources in Cork city centre.
“People in Cork are not used to violence of this magnitude. For this to have happened in broad daylight on Cork’s busiest street will have shaken people.”
Mr Gould said that he had long been calling on the government to increase Garda funding to Cork city to prevent incidents such as this from happening
“It was only a matter of time before a serious incident such as this happened. We need a strong Garda presence on Cork city streets,” he said.
“There now needs to be an immediate response. We need to see Gardai on the streets to ease people’s fears. People need to feel safe coming into Cork city.”
