Ireland: four men hospitalized after knife attack

The incident took place in a hotel that houses refugees, mostly Ukrainians.

This Sunday night, four people were hospitalized in County Kerry, Ireland, following a knife attack. The incident took place at the Killarney Hotel, which is now largely operating as accommodation for refugees, the vast majority of whom are Ukrainians.

Police arrived at the establishment around 20:30 (local), after receiving a phone call about an assault with a knife in the town of Killarney. Two men in their 30s were arrested and taken to the police station.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ireland, with a population of 5,000,000, has received about 65,000 refugees. This sudden immigration exacerbated the housing crisis in the northern European country, so that a large number of hotels, such as the Killarney, began to house only asylum seekers from abroad.

In October, the Killarney Hotel was in the spotlight after the state agency in charge of refugee housing sought to relocate refugees to another county. However, a series of local protests led to a reversal of the measure.

Jolene Bunting, a political activist and former councilor in Belfast, Northern Ireland, alleged that the attack was perpetrated by illegal immigrants residing in the hotel. In a video he posted on his personal Twitter account, four ambulances can be seen at the scene.