Man (30s) hospitalised with ‘numerous stab wounds’ following incident in Wexford town

Gardaí were called to King Street shortly after 11 p.m. amid reports of males fighting in the street and smashing up a house.

When they arrived, they found a man bleeding heavily with several stab wounds, while a house had been smashed up and had several windows broken.

A man aged in his 20s was arrested at the scene and brought to Wexford Garda Station. He required some medical treatment himself and is due to be interviewed in relation to the violence this morning.

Gardaí confirmed that no weapon was recovered at the scene, but a shard of glass from one of the broken windows may have been used to inflict some of the injuries.

Despite having lost a significant amount of blood, some of which was still visible on the street this morning as gardaí conducted their technical examination, the injured party is expected to make a full recovery.

According to locals, tensions had been bubbling away just beneath the surface on King Street from early afternoon before things erupted into violence late Thursday night.

The incident is reportedly related to an ongoing feud which has developed between factions in recent weeks and both parties are known to gardaí.

The man aged in his 20s is due to be questioned this morning and it is expected that charges will follow from the incident.

Ahead of the local elections, an apparent increase in violence and instances of anti-social behaviour has been a major source of discussion on the doorsteps of the district.

Outgoing Mayor John Hegarty, who is not seeking re-election, says it is a source of concern following a number of high profile incidents.

“What happened last night is definitely an escalation in tensions,” he said. “It’s something that you would like to think would never happen in Wexford. I don’t know the specific details of this case, but it is shocking.”

The Mayor says that while Wexford has seen a growth in violence on the streets in recent times, context is needed.

“There’s no doubt that there’s been a number of concerning incidents,” he said. “I’d be familiar with some of the people involved in one of the incidents which captured attention. I suppose they serve as examples of how people have lost respect for their fellow citizens. That’s a worrying trend across the country, not just Wexford.

“I think it is important to have some balance though. The number of people involved in these incidents are very small. Any incident is one too many, but I wouldn’t like the message to go out that this is prevalent and unavoidable.”

Cllr Hegarty also stressed that the public has a role to play in cleaning up our streets.

“The first call that people make has to be the gardaí,” he said. “They won’t sit idle. I think they’re getting a bad rap out of these incidents, but it’s important that people facilitate the gardaí in bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.

“It’s our town. We don’t want people creating an atmosphere or an unwarranted reputation. We need to report any incidents as they happen.”