Gardaí are planning a major operation against knife crime and serious assault - targetting "hot-spots" in Dublin City.
Operation Soteria will put uniformed Gardaí on the streets to carry out searches and make arrests.
Analysts are trying to anticipate when and where assaults are likely to happen so Gardaí can prevent attacks.
Criminologist John O'Keefe says specific areas will be targetted.
"Temple Bar is going to be one of them because that's obviously a place where tourists congregate and where there's been a alot of after-hours trouble over the last number of years," he said.
"We also know St Stephen's Green due to a recent very successful Garda intervention where gangs are coming in with offensive weapons and knives," he added.
An Garda Síochána said rising levels of serious assault were a worry all over Ireland.
"A nationwide operation has been put in place to reduce assaults and the fear of assaults, and to make public places safer. This is a multi-strand operation with a pro-arrest, early investigation and proactive high visibility policing focus," it said in a statement.
"The Garda Analysis Service has identified assault 'hot-spots' and the main times assaults take place," it said.
"While knife crime accounts for a very small percentage of total assaults, nonetheless it can have serious and devastating consequences."
