"I really would ask people to try and avoid connecting crime with migration. It's not right," he stated.
"Yes, of course, people who are migrants might commit crimes," he continued. "In a country of 5.3 million people, a few hundreds of thousands of migrants, there are going to be a few of them who commit terrible crimes."
Varadkar explained that he sees the suspect as "a migrant, although a citizen as somebody who [has lived in Ireland] for over 20 years."
The Algerian suspect of the attack was known to police and was previously slated for deportation after being arrested in 2003.
"However, after a judicial review in the High Court his deportation order was revoked. Sources said in 2008 the Department of Justice granted the man leave to stay in Ireland," The Times reported. "One said: 'He was due to be deported 20 years ago, but fought the order for five years. He eventually obtained an Irish passport."
MMA legend Conor McGregor spoke out against the response to the attack by Irish officials, calling it "not good enough." He said in a post on X:
Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today ... There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH."
