A special divisional unit has been set up by gardaí in Co Mayo to investigate a series of violent incidents in the county during the past week.
An unpreceded series of knife attacks continued in Ballinrobe early yesterday when two men were stabbed in the town.
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.