By Daniel Payne
CNA Staff, Aug 16, 2024 / 14:50 pm
Military authorities in Ireland are investigating the stabbing of a Catholic chaplain as a potential terrorist attack, according to media reports on Friday.
Father Paul Murphy was reportedly stabbed multiple times on Thursday outside of Renmore Army Barracks in the coastal town of Galway.
The 50-year-old priest sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries from the attack and was taken to nearby University Hospital Galway for treatment.
A 16-year-old was reportedly arrested in connection with the attack.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said on X on Friday that he had been “briefed on the shocking incident outside Renmore Barracks last night & my thoughts are with the member of the defence forces in hospital.”
“I want to thank defence forces personnel & Gardai for their action and response,” the prime minister said.
I have been briefed on the shocking incident outside Renmore Barracks last night & my thoughts are with the member of the defence forces in hospital. I want to thank defence forces personnel & Gardai for their action and response.
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) August 16, 2024
The Irish Independent, meanwhile, reported that the incident is being investigated as a possible terror attack.
Irish gardai “are trying to establish if there was a terror link” to the attack, the news outlet reported on Friday.
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Police “are investigating whether the teenager may have made comments at the scene of the stabbing about Irish military involvement in the Middle East before he was brought away by officers,” the Independent said.
Galway Bishop Michael Duignan said in a statement on Friday that the news was “deeply shocking and upsetting.”
“I pray for the injured man, asking God that he would make a full recovery,” the bishop said. “I pray too for his family, for his army colleagues and for the medical personnel who are tending to his injuries at this time.”
On Facebook on Friday, meanwhile, Murphy offered thanks to supporters “for your prayers, love, and concern.”
“Sorry that I can’t reply to all messages and take all the calls coming my way,” the priest wrote. “I’m doing okay; just awaiting surgery.”
“All will be well,” he added.
This is a developing story.
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