Show of solidarity at candlelit vigil for Dublin stabbing victims

The event was organised exactly one week since the main street of the city was ripped apart by people hell-bent on rioting and looting.

However, in a display of peace, parents from the school, locals, and supporters brought their children along to stand together in icy winds to offer their thoughts and prayers to the victims.

Their prayers were for the five-year-old girl who remains in a critical condition in CHI Temple Street Hospital.

Childcare worker Leanne Flynn, who was injured as she protected the children, is in a serious but stable condition in the Mater Hospital.

“We are mourning too,” one parent said. “There is an innocent child who is very sick.

“We don’t know what is happening, we have no news, and we are anxious about the child.

Our children are really scared and worried. This is their class friend. We don’t know much information but we are here to give our support.

“What happened is beyond anything anyone could ever imagine, and we are all suffering, but we can’t even imagine what that child’s family are going through,” the parent said.

The gathering was set against the bright visual backdrop of the colourful images and animations projected at night onto the GPO, as part of the Dublin Winter Lights spectacle.

At around 7.30pm, the crowd lit their candles among the busy Christmas shoppers while one woman, Ann Whelan, led a decade of the Rosary.

There was camaraderie, restraint, and decency during the hour-long event, which was a world away from the venom that spilled out onto the streets of Dublin the previous week.

In all, three children from Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire — along with Ms Flynn — were wounded in the terrifying ordeal that later sparked rioting.

The suspect, a man in his late 40s, remains in hospital after he was wrestled to the ground by passers-by.

The passers-by intervened when the suspect produced a knife and started stabbing children.

The organiser of the event, Nathan Whelan, said: “I live locally and wanted to do something for the five-year-old girl.

“These are concerned parents; they want to do something.

“Many of them were afraid to come out tonight, but this is a peaceful event.”

There was a heavy Garda presence on O’Connell St and one mother, Áine Shields, said she felt “unsafe” coming into the city.

“We have kids and we want to show our respects,” she said.

When we were standing in the crowd, we were nervous, but we wanted to be here too.

When they had finished praying, the crowd walked to Temple Street Hospital, where they held a second vigil. They lit candles again, which they left on the main doorstop of the hospital, with the help of the gardaí.

There was much delight when a number of nurses came to a window of the building and waved to the crowd, who all waved back before going home.

Mr Whelan said a vigil will be held at 7pm every Thursday “until the child is well again”.

He told the Irish Examiner: “We will gather at the Spire again, say some words, and then go to Temple Street Hospital.

“Hopefully more can see it was nice and peaceful, and we can get more people out. It will be every Thursday after that until that poor girl is in good health hopefully,” he said.