There have been calls to give the freedom of the city to Caio Benicio, the Deliveroo driver who bravely intervened when he saw a man with a knife attacking children at Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East, in the north inner city, yesterday.
Mr Benicio said that he acted on instinct when he saw the little girl being attacked, dismounting from his bike and using his helmet to hit the attacker
“I didn’t even make a decision, it was pure instinct, and it was all over in seconds. He fell to the ground, I didn’t see where knife went, and other people stepped in,” he told The Journal.
“I have two kids myself, so I had to do something. I did what anyone would do. People were there but they couldn’t step in because he was armed, but I knew I could use my helmet as a weapon.”
And he said that his thoughts and prayers were with the five-year-old girl who was rushed to hospital where she was receiving treatment in critical care.
“I am praying, it’s all I am thinking of. I saw her in the ambulance, she looked so vulnerable, I had to go with gardaí then. I am waiting for news about her. I am hoping,” he said.
As the details began to emerge yesterday, Mr Benicio was being described as a hero for his actions.
I am also told, by the way, but cannot 100% confirm, that the person who intervened to stop the attacker today was a Brazilian national. Whoever he was, a hero that should not be forgotten.
— John McGuirk (@john_mcguirk) November 23, 2023
There were calls on X and other social media platforms for Mr Benicio to receive the freedom of the city for his bravery.
Caio Benicio should never have to buy a drink in this country again. https://t.co/3UeYZuvtjf
— David Kent (@KentoCCFC) November 24, 2023
Caio Benicio was the best of us today. There's no other words for it the man is a hero. https://t.co/kJA6IBs0zK
— mcdiesel (@mcdiesel88) November 24, 2023
CRECHE WORKER
A crèche worker who also stepped into defend the schoolchildren being attacked as they waited outside the school has also been described as a hero.
She was collecting children for after school care when the man launched a violent random stab attack on then on a busy Dublin street.
She received serious stab wounds to her body from the knife man and is being treated in hospital.
“This all happened in a matter of seconds and after her very brave actions another two children suffered superficial stabbing injuries to their chest and shoulder in what was a frenzied incident,” a source told the Irish Independent.
“She defended those children with all her strength – all that she was doing was trying to protect those little kids and people in what was is a very built up area in the city centre saw what was happening when they passed the school.”
A passerby who also intervened in the attack described what she saw to RTÉ News.
Siobhan Kearney, whose brother Liam Dunne died in the fire at the Stardust nightclub in 1981, was attending the inquests into that tragedy at the nearby Rotunda Hospital when the stabbing happened.
She said she saw it unfold from across the road and when asked whether the children and woman were victims of a stabbing, she said that she was told they were.
“Without thinking, I just took across the road to help out. We got another young man, disarmed him [the attacker] with the knife, another man took the knife and put it away for the garda to find it,” Ms Kearney said.
The real hero’s defending all our safety were Siobhán Kearney, Caio Benicio, @gardainfo @DubFireBrigade
We are forever in your debt.
Go raibh maith agaibh 🙏 https://t.co/AVX97OAxxJ
— Senator Mary Fitzpatrick (@votemaryfitz) November 24, 2023
Protesters gathered at the scene after the children and the injured woman were taken to hospital from the school. As the night wore on, the city centre erupted into unprecedented rioting, with opportunists then looting shops in the city centre.
BREAKING: Angry and violent scenes have erupted in Dublin City Centre tonight. Gript reporters saw fireworks fired at Gardai, and at least one Garda vehicle on fire. pic.twitter.com/3WJJ1COF6I
— gript (@griptmedia) November 23, 2023
— gript (@griptmedia) November 23, 2023
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In the interests of open honest and brave journalism, shouldn’t you have included the full quote from the Deliveroo driver?
“There are protests against immigrants and I am immigrant and I was there, right there to protect Irish people you know.
“They don’t even know what’s happened. I think the people there on the streets like put fire on the garda car and they should know what happened before, you know.
“We are here to work. Most of the people are here to work hard. And make the economy of the country go better. The work we do here is good for the country. It’s good for themselves, you know, they just have hate.”
Asylum seekers are not working. While I commend this man’s brave actions which it sounds like could have saved further children from being stabbed, it seems he is confused as to his own status as a legal immigrant and the other categories of people that many Irish people are more concerned about, that being illegal immigrants and the enormous numbers of asylum seekers (many bogus) who have arrived into Ireland over the last 3-4 years.
There is a very real issue of large numbers of foreign people cheating the system in Ireland and that reality doesn’t change because one Brazilian man did the right thing yesterday.
The man who attacked those children was not an asylum seeker, he was vetted and documented. But obviously the agenda you have helps you ignore facts.
he obviously wasn’t vetted particularly well !!!!!
Anyway he was Algerian not Irish. Of course you think all it means to be Irish is a document like a passport.
Why is there mothing being said about the irish guy that tackled this animal aswell. Probably didn’t fit the spin. Absolutely everything you see and hear in Ireland has to be scrutinised with an open mind.
Kudos must be giiven to the Brazilian who intervened to protect the teacher and 5 year old.
But we must be aware the Media are building up the migrant Brazilian as an agenda to embrace Migration and play down the dangers of Mass Plantation Migration, its associated crime ,violence and destruction of social cohesion of a once homogenous Nation of Irish people.
Standard Propaganda 101 tactics, distract, obfuscate, deflect.
Read ‘Propaganda’ by Edward Louis Bernays to understand how your, THOUGHTS ,APPETITES ,OPINION AND DECISIONS are manipulated by Regime Media to emasculate your independence.
Newstalk reported this morning about “Gratuitous thuggery” and the streets returning to normal after a night of violence BUT does not mention even a single person being arrested. The Gardai have openly boasted and displayed their wokeness but when it comes to the test they have failed. Time to abandon ideologies and get back to serious policing based on real laws.
According to RTE a Garda source said 34 people were arrested. You may also find that more people will be arrested in the coming days because the Gards likely recorded people breaking the law with a view to arresting at a later date.
Why did Newstalk then not mention this in their report as it would be a significant news item? I have personally reported different incidents of vandalism some years ago where the Gardai could have arrested the perpetrators but failed.
In all fairness the problem is much wider than the Gardai responses or lack of responses. From the videos of the violence I noticed a large number of hooded youngsters. I suspect many have been raised in homes with no boundaries and little if any discipline. We need strong families with proper discipline and not a government that undermines these with ideologies and policies that have nothing to do with good governance.
That’s Newstalks issue, stop arguing with reality you nutcase.
Vote of no confidence in Mc entee Donnelly O gorman immediately
Leo said you don’t get a veto on who gets to live beside you.
If our Garda Commisioner (and I believe our Minister of Justice) are blaming what happened in Dublin last night on a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” I would ask if they are not simply hiding behind an invisible line of far-right people. Are they doing this to give themselves political cover? How would they then in fact be any different from the Emperor with no clothes? If most on the rampage were teens and in their twenties (as appears from the hooded individuals in the videos), who were they and where were they from, and what was their real motivation?
Let’s be honest, nobody has any problems with the South Americans working hard in this country. We share similar values and beliefs. The problem is Islam and its hatred of our values and the West, fuelled by their own resentment . They do not believe in integration. They do not believe in adopting the values of their host nation. They do not believe in working. Their ideology demands it of them.
Say what you mean, Adolf.
Give me a Christian any day before a Moslem. I am a woman and know perfectly well my place in the Moslem world is always behind the man. Fundamental Islamists are evil, just look at hamas; they are below contempt. Why on earth would you want them here in Ireland. The stupidity astounds me.
They think that when they come to our western country they will adopt our way of life eventually
They say things like ‘A Muslim fella works with me and he’s a lovely fella’ and therefore think there’s nothing to be concerned about