Search under way for man armed with sword after Garda struck by car in Dublin attack

A manhunt is under way after a garda was hit by a car and hospitalised in an encounter with a man in Dublin early Monday morning.

Patrol cars were rammed and the Garda in question was hit while responding to a callout to an incident in a Castleknock apartment complex last night.

The garda was outside of his patrol car and trying to affect an arrest when the assailant struck him with the vehicle shortly before 1am.

The man then went on to ram multiple garda patrol cars as he attempted to flee the area. The assailant was reportedly armed with a sword.

GRA representative for the DMR West, Detective Garda Mark Ferris said in a statement that it is "deeply regrettable that yet another young Garda has been injured while on duty".

"While trying to effect an arrest, the armed assailant struck the Garda with his car and went on to ram other patrol cars as he fled the area.

GRA Representative Ferris said that he had spoken with his injured colleague, "who has thankfully been released from hospital".

"He is recovering and naturally is in shock having been struck by the assailants vehicle. Reflecting on what was a lethally dangerous situation, he "feels blessed" that he wasn’t run over and his injuries are non life threatening.

“No member of An Garda Siochana deserves to be injured or face assault while on duty but unfortunately too often that is the case and there are simply not enough Gardai to protect their colleagues when they come under attack”.

Gardaí have confirmed that investigations are ongoing.