AN 18-year-old who was stabbed on a street in west Belfast remained in a critical condition in hospital last night.
Sam Leckey, who is from the lower Falls area, was attacked on Cullingtree Road at around 6am on Sunday.
A 26-year-old man was arrested in Belfast yesterday on suspicion of attempted murder.
He was later released on police bail pending further enquiries.
Mr Leckey, whose uncle is Sinn Féin assembly member Fra McCann, was the fifth man to have been stabbed in the last four days in Northern Ireland and third to be attacked in Belfast.
The stabbing led to calls for a crackdown on young people carrying knives.
Community representatives have also appealed for people to remain calm.
Meanwhile, gardaí fear a 15-year-old suspected of fatally knifing a young Dublin man as he tried to break up a fight may have fled Ireland.
Lorcan O’Reilly (21) died after suffering a single stab wound to the heart when he intervened in a row outside the Oliver Bond flat complex in south inner Dublin in the early hours of Sunday.
Witnesses have told gardaí that the victim, who lived at Robert Emmet Close, had been attempting to stop a fracas from escalating.
The main suspect in the fatal attack is understood to be a 15-year-old who was already well-known to local gardaí before Sunday’s stabbing.
However, officers fear the youth may have fled Ireland.
Mr O’Reilly’s death has sparked an outpouring of support on social media for his family, particularly his heartbroken parents Paddy and Jenny.
Neighbours have described the dead man’s family as highly respected and well-liked while contributors to Facebook have said Mr O'Reilly was a “character full of fun and life”.
Speaking at Kevin Street Garda station yesterday, Superintendent Paddy McMenamin revealed that 30 detectives were working on the case.
He praised the “excellent assistance and cooperation” they were receiving from the local community who had provided “excellent information”.
Appealing for witnesses, the senior Garda said: “Lorcan was a 21 year old man. He came from the locality, a very respectable, decent young man from a respectable family in the community and the family are devastated by his tragic death.”
The killing, coupled with a spate of stabbings in Dublin over the Halloween weekend, has sparked a call for tough legislation to tackle knife crime.
A 22-year-old man was left fighting for his life after suffering multiple stab wounds at a bonfire celebration on Saturday eventing in the Dromheath estate in Blanchardstown, while a 25-year-old man was critically injured after being attacked with blades and hurleys during a brawl in Clarehall at around 1am on Sunday.
