On Thursday evening, violence and looting broke out in Dublin in the wake of a knife attack that resulted in five people – including three children – needing hospital care.

Garda cars were burnt out, as well as a Dublin Bus and a Luas carriage while shops were looted as rioters caused havoc around the city for hours.

Donald McDonald said: “We are all shocked and saddened by the tragic attack of a woman and children at Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire in Parnell Square and the subsequent terrible events last night in Dublin city centre."

In the midst of the chaos on the streets of Dublin, he said he witnessed "the images of Arnotts on social media showing a gang of people breaking into the Abbey Street door shortly after we closed and ransacking limited parts of the store.” 

McDonald said they “prioritised customer and team safety” and made a decision to close the store early yesterday evening. 

“Thankfully nobody was hurt in the events that unfolded at Arnotts and all our team members and customers, while shaken, are safe.”

He went on to say that: “Arnotts is a very special place, made up of great people and throughout its 180-year history, Arnotts has not alone survived but thrived through tough times, emergencies and many crises.”

Arnotts is "Dublin’s department store," he said before adding: “It is part of Dublin, so shame on those people last night for what they did to our city and our beautiful store.”

Speaking about the tireless efforts of staff, the CEO said: “They may have damaged our store and stolen some merchandise, but they can never damage the Arnotts spirit, we will not allow them. 

“Our teams have worked through the night to repair our store. We will fix what needs to be fixed and open our doors, later than normal, but with the same pride as we always have at Arnotts when serving our customers.”

Concluding his statement, McDonald explained: “Right now our paramount concern is for our team’s welfare and safety and we thank them for their professionalism and resilience during the disturbance last night. 

“We will engage with the relevant authorities and the Gardaí to understand what actions they are taking to ensure nothing like this happens again in Dublin City, or anywhere we have stores.”

Arnotts is open from 12pm-6pm today.