Gardaí believe the violent death of a man in Dublin’s north inner city arose from a dispute at a gathering in a nearby house, which spilled out on to the street resulting in his fatal stabbing. Two women also needed medical treatment for injuries sustained during the disorder at Foster Terrace, Dublin 3.
While there were no arrests by Sunday, gardaí are working on a definite line of inquiry. They believe they know the identities of those present and have established a suspect for the killing. They have located that person and are not looking for anyone else.
Members of the Garda investigation team from Mountjoy station are also hopeful interviews with the two injured women can bring about significant progress in the investigation.
The dead man, who was in his 50s, and the two injured women, who are both in their 60s, were known to each other, though gardaí do not believe they are related. All three are from abroad, having come to Ireland from eastern Europe, and were among those gathered at the north inner city house on Friday night into Saturday morning.
Both of the women were found seriously injured when emergency services personnel arrived on the scene. While those injuries were not life-threatening, both required medical treatment and they were taken by ambulance to hospital.
One of the women was discharged in the hours after the violent fatal incident, though the other woman remained in hospital undergoing treatment.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Ray McAdam said he was “deeply saddened” by the “horrible news” of the man’s death in the attack overnight into Saturday morning.
“My thoughts are with those injured and with the family and loved ones of the deceased. The community in Ballybough is in shock, and I appeal to anyone with information to assist An Garda Síochána with their investigation.”
Gardaí suspect a dispute arose between a number of people at the house and that the dead man was stabbed, and died in the street a short distance from the house. Though efforts were made to revive him, they were no successful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
His body remained in situ overnight, with the scene sealed off and the man’s remains concealed from public view, pending the arrival of a pathologist to carry out a preliminary examination of the man’s remains where he died. His body was later removed from the scene, on Saturday, for a postmortem examination.
Though investigators were awaiting the results of that postmortem before the direction of the investigation could be confirmed, all of the resources of a homicide inquiry have been committed to the case. Gardaí believe the victim was stabbed, probably in a spur of the moment attack.
The property where the injured people had gathered on Friday night was sealed off for examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau while the street was also sealed off for examination.
“A senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the investigation and an incident room has been established at Mountjoy Garda station. No arrests have been made at this time,” Garda headquarters said in a statement.
They appealed to anyone with information to come forward.