Fifteen knife attacks were carried out on a night of chaos across Dublin. Two gardai also sustained broken noses while trying to contain a riot in the north inner city.

In all, the emergency services dealt with a massive 800 Halloween incidents. This included some 500 ambulance cases, with 40pc of these relating to assaults.

In addition, a fireman was injured after his unit was attacked by stone-throwing youths on Sheriff Street in Dublin 1.

Emergency service personnel were also attacked when they went to deal with fires in O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin 7.

Dublin Fire Brigade said the emergency services were called to 15 knife attacks, the most serious of which involved a stabbing to the head.

Gardai confirmed they are investigating the assault, which happened on the Ratoath Road in Finglas at 1.30am today.

On a night of chaos, some 50 car fires had to be put out all over the city, including Lucan, Clondalkin and Cabra. “It was ridiculous,” a senior fire officer told the Herald today.

“The phones never stopped hopping from 5.30pm. It was crazy.”

Two gardai had their noses broken in a riot on Dorset Street just after midnight as up to 40 people brawled on the street. The mob turned on gardai as they moved to quell the violence.

Gardai from five separate Dublin stations were called to the scene where they were targeted and attacked by gangs of youths.

A number of gardai received minor injuries and two members were hospitalised when their noses were broken during the brawling.

The injured officers were brought to the Mater Hospital and treated for their wounds. Reinforcements were drafted in from Store Street, the Bridewell, Fitzgibbon Street and Mountjoy Square Garda Stations before the incident was brought under control.

Gardai arrested 10 people for public order incidents during the course of the rioting.

INJURED

“A number of gardai were injured. Two members had their noses broken and were taken to hospital,” a garda spokesperson confirmed. “The incident involved a large group of 35 to 40 people around Dorset Street. Members from a number of Dublin stations assisted in the incident.”

John Moody, station officer at Tara St Fire Station, said: “We had a number of serious fires through the night in two or three separate areas of the city.

“Overall we probably had a factor of four to five times busier than what you would normally expect on a Friday night.”

The Sheriff Street incident in which a fireman was injured occurred at 10.50pm yesterday. It unfolded when a fire unit was stoned and its windscreen smashed, causing the fire officer to sustain cuts to the face.

Meanwhile, the O'Devaney Gardens area was described as a “minefield”. Fire units needed a garda escort to tackle blazes in the flats complex after they were earlier attacked by youths.

Small fires were started in some of the abandoned flats. A fire brigade source said this might have been to “entice” emergency service personnel into the area before the attacks were carried out. “It was a minefield,” the source said. The first calls to go to O'Devaney came in at around seven o'clock yesterday evening and continued right through the night.

A fire broke out at a factory on Castleforbes Road, behind the Point in Dublin. Five units were required to put out the blaze, which started at 8pm yesterday. Four units rushed to a domestic fire at Mountjoy Street in the city centre, while a shop went on fire in Clongriffin, North Dublin, in the early hours of this morning.