There has been an increase of more than 400% in knife-related murders in Ireland over the past five years.

Knife assaults causing harm have increased almost 30% over the past five years, with general knife assaults increasing up to 80% in the same period, according to the Central Statistics Office.

The Mater hospital in Dublin has seen "a steady increase" in the number of stabbings referred to its emergency department, consultant Eamonn Brazil told the Sunday Tribune.

"I would see a stabbing or blade-related incident on a day-to-day basis," Brazil said. "Just last weekend I found myself stitching up some guy's head after a stabbing. It is a frequent occurrence that we would have a life-threatening stabbing, sometimes around one or two a week."

Stabbings are often alcohol-related. "I would say 50% of knife-related injuries are the result of something alcohol-related," he said. "It would also not be unusual to see the same person back twice. It is also common that the weapons used are kitchen knives."

There were 36 knife or blade murders last year compared with eight in 2003, according to garda statistics. So far this year there have been four recorded murders by stabbing, 92 incidents of knife assault causing harm and 53 general blade-related assaults.

Overall, since 2003, there have been 153 knife and blade murders.