A classroom assistant who stepped in front of a knife-wielding attacker outside a Dublin primary school has been praised for her heroics.
The female care worker, named locally as Leanne Flynn, was hurt along with three young children in the violent incident outside Gaelscoil Colaiste Mhuire, on Parnell Square, on Thursday.
A five-year-old girl injured in the attack remained in a critical condition in hospital over the weekend, while the condition of Ms Flynn, who is aged in her 30s, has been described as “serious”.
Parents of some of the schoolchildren caught up in the attack have encouraged support for a fundraiser in aid of the care worker and the pupils.
The total raised passed a quarter of a million euro on Sunday evening.
In a social media post at the weekend, Garrett FitzGerald said his six-year-old son was among the group of junior and senior infants who were attacked as they were leaving the school.
“My son’s care worker stepped in front of a knife for him and the other kids,” he said.
“She wrestled the guy long enough, to allow the other kids to run away and for help to arrive.
“She’s an absolute hero,” he added.
In a message posted on the GoFundMe page, Leanne Flynn's brother Jonathan also described his sister as "a hero".
It’s understood the 49-year-old suspect has been in an induced coma since Thursday’s attack, meaning he has yet to be questioned by gardaí.
The man, who has been described as an Algerian-born Irish citizen, had been embroiled in a row over his social welfare payments, according to some media reports.
The attacker was brought down following the intervention of Deliveroo delivery driver Caio Benicio.
A separate fundraiser for the Brazilian native, who used his motorcycle helmet to subdue the assailant, had raised around €360,000 by Sunday afternoon.
Mr Benicio was assisted by 17-year-old Alan Loren-Guille, a French catering student, who knocked the knife out of the attacker’s hand.
A final year student at the catering school Lycée des Métiers de Bazeilles, near his home in the Ardennes, the teenager had been on his way to work in Spitalfields restaurant.
According to Le Figaro newspaper, French president Emmanuel Macron personally called the teenager to “congratulate him and thank him for this act of bravery which helped save lives and which makes us all proud”.
A third man, named as Warren Donohoe from Co Wicklow, reportedly tackled the man and pulled him away from the children.
