Mags GarganFollowing a recent spate of stabbings in cities across the country, priests from challenging communities have called for a crackdown on young people carrying knives.
A man died and six others were injured in separate stabbing incidents across Dublin over the weekend. An 18-year-old was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after he was attacked on Sunday morning in Belfast, in the third stabbing in the area in recent days and the sixth across Northern Ireland.
Fr Gary Donegan CP, rector of Holy Cross in the Ardoyne area of Belfast told The Irish Catholic there “has been a general increase nationwide in knife crime”.
“It is so easy to get knives. People are even bringing domestic knives with them. It used to be violence was inflicted by fists and all too often now with drink or drugs involved, a knife will be produced. The whole thing needs to be looked at in terms of knife crime and what can be done to prevent people from carrying knives.”
Fr Gerry O’Connor, a priest in the Dublin suburb of Ballyfermot, said there are “cohorts of young men in particular who carry weapons with them nearly all of the time across West Dublin”.
“We would have a number of cases in our area of knives being used, even fatally, in recent years. It is part of the reality of life,” he said. “As long as there is a stand-off between authority and groups of young guys you inevitably have these problems. There is no substitute for engaging with young people.”