AN UNPRECEDENTED series of knife attacks in Co Mayo continued early yesterday when two men were stabbed in the town of Ballinrobe.
The knife attacks came after an earlier assault in the town in which two other men were attacked. One of the victims, a 27-year-old man, was later transferred from Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, with serious head injuries.
There has been a spate of knife attacks over the past seven days, with one man dead and a number of others, including a garda, seriously injured.
The attacks have been condemned by community and political leaders.
On Sunday last, Garda Daryl Mullen, a member of the Garda Dugs Unit in Co Mayo, sustained a knife wound while on duty in Westport.
Garda Mullen is recovering in hospital. A 16-year-old youth has been charged in connection with the stabbing.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Frankie Heneghan (24) from Ballyheane, Castlebar, was murdered in an alleyway off Main Street, Kiltimagh. A man has been charged and is in custody in connection with the murder.
There were two incidents in Ballinrobe early yesterday, say gardaí.
The first occurred at around 3.30am when two men, aged 27 and 32, were attacked by a group of people at New Street.
The two victims from the New Street incident were rushed to Mayo General Hospital.
The 32-year-old was later released but the second man was transferred to Beaumont Hospital.
The men were punched and kicked, say gardaí.
About 20 minutes later, two other men, aged 20 and 31, sustained stab wounds when attacked on the nearby Neale Road.
They had knife wounds to their necks and were taken to hospital for treatment.
It is understood the attacks are connected and that all of the injured men had earlier been attending a nightclub in Ballinrobe.
Gardaí yesterday issued an appeal for witnesses.
Following yesterday’s incidents, Damien Ryan, a member of Mayo County Council, called for the provision of greater Garda resources to Ballinrobe. “There is no doubt that Ballinrobe, like most small towns in the country at the moment, has a serious drugs problem”, said Mr Ryan said.
“Greater resources need to be devoted to the drugs and public order problems in the town.
“It is very hard for the gardaí, who are unresourced locally at the moment, to deal with the problem especially at weekends,” Mr Ryan added.
“The whole Garda emphasis now needs to shift to deal with the worsening public order and drugs situation.”