Knife crime on the rise among young people
The number of people hospitalised due to stabbings increased by 9% last year.
There was also a rise in the number of people who were treated for gunshot wounds.
In 2018, 164 people had inpatient admissions in hospital after being assaulted with a knife.
According to Freedom of Information figures, this increased to 178 last year.
The largest amount was in the greater Dublin area with 167 men and 11 women admitted.
Of the patients, 100 were aged between 18 and 35 but 13 were children under 18.
Retired Detective Inspector Patrick Marry says knife crime is a huge problem among young people.
"Every year we see murders or injuries where knives have been used," said Mr Marry.
"The carrying of knives is synonymous with groups of young people.
"They find it a comfort to carry a knife in case they are attacked or if they have a drug debt or anything of that nature.
"That is a problem because young people can end up using knives when they may not be in full fettle about the damage they could do with a knife when they produce it."
He said that knife crime is something that needs to be tackled by the new government.
"Maybe the best way to approach it is - and they did it in England, Wales and Scotland - where the police forces got together and they had an amnesty for people to hand over illegal knives.
"They found it a huge success and they took something like 20,000 illegal knives off the streets.
"The same approach could be adapted here."
There was a slight rise in the number of people treated for injuries they got from being shot with a handgun last year.
In 2019, 25 people were hospitalised - up from 23 in 2018.
