Nearly 160 people were hospitalised for stab wounds last year.

New figures released to Newstalk show that 87% were men and the vast majority were in the Dublin region.

In the space of three years, just under 500 people needed inpatient care in hospital after being assaulted with a knife.

There were 164 knife-related hospitalisations in 2018, 178 in 2019 and 157 last year.

Knife crime

Sinn Féin's justice spokesman, Martin Kenny, said knife crime is a huge problem among young people.

“Some people carry knives which they think is necessary for their protection,” he said.

“It is an issue that needs to be dealt with. Other jurisdictions have done a lot of work in this area but they found that it isn’t one thing that will resolve the problem, there has to be a whole range of interventions taken.

“There has to be better liaison with people when they come out of prison, there has to be better youth facilities in place to make sure that people have alternatives and there has to be better youth facilities in place to ensure people have alternatives.

“There has to be a change in culture or a change in identity for many of these young people who fall into these gangs.”

Of last year's knife-assaults, 136 of the people hospitalised were male and 21 were female.

Amnesty

Mr Kenny said knife amnesties have been effective in other countries.

“Of course, there is a knife in every kitchen in the country an it is an implement that everyone uses so it is very difficult to take them out of circulation,” he said.

“What we have to do is change the attitude of people who would decide to use a knife in those circumstances. Some people talk about increased prison sentences for them and that is also an option.”

The figures also show that 56 people were hospitalised after being shot between 2018 and 2020.