'Christmas will be special': Girl injured in Parnell Square attack to spend festive season at home
Dublin Flowers Scene And At Square, Left In The Tributes Stephen Parnell Collins/collins Picture:
Christmas will be special this year, according to the parents of the young girl who was critically injured in an attack on Dublin's Parnell Square in November 2023.
Their "little girl", who is now in her third week at home, is preparing to spend the festive season with her family.
The then five-year-old was one of three children who, along with their carer, were attacked by a man wielding a knife at Coláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East on November 23, 2023.
A GoFundMe page was set up in the wake of the attack to help the girl with her recuperation, and the page has raised over €122,000 since then.
In an update this week, the girl's parent said their daughter was "already used to sleeping in her bed everyday" and they now understand "how much having a routine helps with her development".
They said she is "becoming accustomed to being in her stander, playing with her toys, and announcing when something is not okay".
They highlighted just how important it was for her to feel like they could "understand her sounds and looks" and they have put together some activities which are "manageable given their home environment".
"Christmas will be special this year," they added.
In September, the now six-year-old was discharged from Temple Street Children's Hospital after 281 days of recovery there.
The children's carer, Leanne Flynn, was discharged from hospital shortly before Christmas 2023, and the other two children, a boy and a girl, were discharged in late November 2023
A man in his 50s, Riad Bouchaker, has been charged in relation to the attack.
This week, his trial was postponed as lawyers await a report from a neuropsychologist.